


Not related

by madsmeetsmisha



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Talia Hale, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - No Hale Fire (Teen Wolf), Alternate Universe - Werewolves Are Known, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst with a Happy Ending, Don't copy to another site, Emissary Stiles Stilinski, Good Peter Hale, Jealous Derek, Jealous Stiles Stilinski, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Mates, Mating Bites, Mating Bond, Pining, Powerful Stiles Stilinski, Sad Stiles Stilinski, Stepbrothers, Stiles has a fake girlfriend, Werewolf Sheriff Stilinski, stepbrothers au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:41:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 40,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21892330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madsmeetsmisha/pseuds/madsmeetsmisha
Summary: "You mean... you mean that Talia is going to become my stepmom and Derek... Derek Hale will become my stepbrother?"Stiles heard his voice squeaking but seriously? Derek fucking Hale would be his stepbrother soon? Fuck his life!Or: The one where Derek gets a new family, the Sherif becomes a werewolf and Stiles feels lonely and discovers a secret about his dead mother and himself. Oh and Derek and Stiles are mates but they are too stupid to notice...
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 329
Kudos: 1053





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please notice that English is not my first language. I am sure there will be mistakes. Sorry! I hope you enjoy this little fic anyway.  
> Also I know that the Sheriff and Talia Hale are a strange combination but I needed them to marry to create a stepbrother situation. I hope it's not too odd. ^^  
> (I don't give permission to show this fic on any other site or app than AO3 or wattpad!)

Stiles had to admit that the very idea that his father could date someone like Talia Hale irritated him. To actually see the couple together was a completely new level of weird. Jesus! It was more than strange to watch his father being nervous and in love like a teenager.  
Of course Stiles knew it was basically his own fault. He had told his father over and over that it was time to move on. The sheriff often seemed so alone when Stiles was out with his friends and in about a year Stiles would leave for college.

His father would bury himself in his work and eat far too unhealthily. Stiles understood that it wasn't easy after his mother died. No one falls out of love just because the other person isn't around any more. But his mother had died ten years ago and even if Stiles still missed her like crazy life went on. Even though he had photos to refresh the memory when her face seemed to fade, he had no chance to remember her voice. Stiles remembered that she loved to read books to him when he was little.

Somewhere he had once read that the first memory that faded from a person was their voice. But Stiles also knew that this was the course of time and that she would want Stiles and his Dad to move on. And after all those years the Sheriff had earned a little love. But Talia Hale? No kidding? It wasn't that Stiles didn't like the woman, but his brain just refused to see the two of them as a couple. This was not even because Talia Hale was a werewolf and his father, just like Stiles himself, was human.

  
Talia Hale was a beautiful woman. Definitely beautiful enough to get any man's attention. So it was no surprise to Stiles that his father liked her. But she was the exact opposite of Stiles' mother and he wondered how on earth the Sherif could fall in love with two such different women. Or maybe that was exactly what Stiles' father wanted. A new life with a woman who in no way reminded him of what he had lost. In some weird way, it would make sense. Nevertheless. Stiles wasn't sure what to make of it. But his father seemed happier than he had been for ages.   
  
"Are you okay, Stiles?" the Sherif asked.  
  
"Yeah. It's a bit weird to meet the Hales for dinner but I will get used to it, I think." Stiles answered.  
  
"You're so quiet, and you can't normally stop talking. Is it because of Mom?" John Stilinski asked and Stiles sensed the insecurity in his father's voice.  
  
He had no right to make his Dad feel bad because he was happy after all these years.  
  
"No, I know Mom would want you to be happy. It's just... this is new... for the last ten years, it was you and me. I guess I just have to get used to it," Stiles replied.   
  
"Thank you, Son. I know this is new for you but believe me, it's new for me too. I never thought a woman like Talia could be interested in someone like me," the Sherif said.  
  
"Hey, don't talk like that Dad. You are awesome! She should be very grateful that you are interested in her", Stiles declared and his father chuckled.   
  
"Thank you Stiles!" the Sherif announced in a fond voice. "By the way, you will get to know all members of the Hale family. Her daughter Laura, her son Derek and even her brother Peter."  
  
Damn it! He would meet Derek Hale today. Fuck! He was so not prepared for this. Derek was supposed to be in New York at College.   
Derek Hale was the reason he discovered that he was not only attracted to girls but also boys. A fact he became all too aware of when he had to change in the locker room next to Derek Hale and his friends after Lacross practise.   
Stiles was also on the lacrosse team for Scott's sake, although he was so bad at the game that he was only sitting on the bench during their games anyway. But even if he didn't care about the sport, the prospect of catching a glimpse of Derek's naked torso made up for everything. He didn't even feel guilty. It wasn't his fault that Derek Hale looked like a Greek god.

It was just unfair. Stiles knew that the werewolf could certainly smell what his sight was doing to Stiles.   
Derek was three years older than Stiles and therefore he graduated two years ago. So Stiles didn't meet him very often.   
Even though he was sad at first that he wouldn't see the werewolf every day at school, Stiles knew it was time to let go of his little crush. It was just stupid to pine after someone for years. But Stiles never was able to get the werewolf out of his head.  
  
Of course there were other people he found attractive. He was only human after all. He would have had to be blind not to see how handsome Danny Mahealani was. And his making-out-session with Malia Tate at Scott's birthday party last year was also very hot. But despite all of this, he couldn't forget Derek and all his efforts to leave this stupid crush behind him finally melt into thin air when he ran into Derek again somewhere in town by accident. Not that the werewolf would recognize him or greet him. Next fall, Stiles would leave for college. At least then it would be time not to pine over someone who didn't even know that he existed.  
  
The fact that he would meet Derek tonight would destroy all his attempts to get over the attractive werewolf again. Fuck!  
What had he done in his past life to deserve this?  
The only good thing was that Stiles had created a scent-neutralising lotion about a year ago. Scott had often complained that he would get whiplash by Stiles' quick change of his feelings. He couldn't do anything about the fact that werewolves were able to hear his heartbeat, but he could prevent them from more or less reading his thoughts because they could smell his feelings. With a mixture of vinegar extract and bay leaves, he succeeded in creating a salve that made it impossible for werewolves to smell him.  
It would already be embarrassing enough that Stiles' pulse would quicken just by thinking about Derek Hale, but at least nobody would be able to smell his arousal tonight. 

The Sherif cleared his throat.  
  
"Stiles before we arrive at the Hale's house, I have to tell you that this family dinner isn't only to get to know each other better. Talia... Talia and I want to move in together. I know this might seem a bit rushed for you but we both know that life is short and we don't want to wast time."  
  
Stiles felt like he couldn't breathe.   
  
"What..." Stiles stammered.  
  
"Talia and I decided not to wait any longer. We want to marry as soon as possible. And after the marriage we want to move to a new house. I know our house is your home, Stiles. It's the place where you grew up, where you remember your mom, but that's exactly the reason why we want to move", his father explained and looked at him pleadingly.  
What the fuck?  
  
"You mean... you mean that Talia is going to become my stepmom and Derek... Derek Hale will become my stepbrother?"  
  
Stiles heard his voice squeaking but seriously? Derek fucking Hale would be his stepbrother soon? Fuck his life!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas!

"Derek! Please tell me you're done. John and his son will arrive here any moment," Talia growled impatiently and entered his room without asking for permission.

Disbelievingly she now looked at him and shook her head. 

"You're still in your sweatpants. You gotta be kidding me. You know how important this meeting between John's and my family is to me." 

Oh, yes, he knew that. After all, she had insisted that he would come all the way from New York. Derek had no idea why it was so important to his mother that he would attend this dinner. He was sure that this was not her first relationship since his father died five years ago. And fortunately, he never met any of her other lovers. Besides, he already knew both the sheriff and his son. The former was certainly not happy to meet him (the Sheriff had caught him drinking with his friends once when he was only seventeen) and Stiles Stilinski. . . Well, in this case, he wasn't exactly eager to meet the other.

The boy was on the Lacross team when Derek still was in High School. He must be three years his junior. Stiles was an incredible bad Lacrosse player but of course Derek remembered him. The boy always stunk the whole locker room when he saw Derek. The strong smell was still in his nose. It was flattering, but it was also annoying.

Derek knew people thought he was good looking. But it was still unpleasant to know that he was probably nothing more than wank bank material for the gangly boy. Even though Stiles' smell betrayed him every time they met, the boy still announced that he was in love with Lydia Martin again and again.

For years! It was annoying!

  
Stiles was certainly aware that Derek could smell him because his best friend was also a werewolf. Derek almost felt sorry for him. The sheriff's son looked so shocked every time they met. Maybe Stiles just didn't want to admit that he liked boys.  
For werewolves, it wasn't a big deal but humans tend to make a big fuss about which gender they liked.  
Still, tonight his mother and sister and his uncle would also be there and they would be able to smell every of Stiles' emotions.

Jesus! His uncle would have the time of his life! This would be infinitely embarrassing, not only for Stiles but for himself as well. At least he wasn't attracted to the boy. Stiles was practically still a child, his limbs seemed too long and he was far too thin. Nevertheless, it was embarrassing when his sister and mother, and especially Uncle Peter, were to find out what was causing Stiles' scent. 

Fuck! He was so not in the mood for this shit! To make matters worse, this was the weekend of Paige's birthday party. His girlfriend had been so pissed that he wasn't gonna be there. He couldn't blame her, even though it wasn't fair that she thought it was his fault. It wasn't possible to say no to Talia Hale! Talia wasn't just his mother. She was his Alpha. But Paige was only human and not a werewolf, so of course she wouldn't know anything about pack dynamics.

Talia was still standing in front of him, hands on her hips, her face serious and. . . and disappointed? Okay, this seemed really important to his mother. With a deep sigh, he got out of his bed. 

"Okay, Mom, give me ten minutes," he sighed.

"I give you five," she replied sternly and left the room. 

Derek quickly slipped into clean jeans and a white shirt. ( Maybe it would soothe his mother a bit if it looked like he tried to dress up a bit.) 

Sighing deeply, he left the room and went downstairs. Not a minute too early as it turned out because as soon as he arrived downstairs, the doorbell rang. Talia opened and Derek was surprised to discover that she seemed timid. His mother was nervous? Because of a man? 

Oh! This had to be even more serious than Derek thought. It was kind of cute. The Sheriff looked completely different without his uniform. Less scary. But also his mother seemed less authoritarian as she smiled at the man in front of her. The sheriff presented a bouquet of flowers to her and received a kiss in return. Only now did Derek's eyes fall on Stiles, who stood behind his father and was apparently as surprised by the spectacle as Derek was. 

And wow! The boy had changed a lot. He seemed to have finally grown into his long limbs. His hair was longer, he must be almost Derek's height now and it almost looked like he was attending the gym. Huh? Derek had to admit the kid was looking good. Very good. 

Well, at least for someone who used to look like. . . like Stiles used to look. Like a pimply teenager whose arms and legs were too long for the rest of his body. And now he was attractive. Very attractive!

Woah, what was he thinking? Stiles Stilinski was annoying, maybe he was a bit cute but he wasn't attractive for fuck's sake! What the hell?

Talia broke away from the Sheriff and now greeted Stiles with a warm smile. 

"Stiles, welcome to our home. How nice to finally meet you. I've heard so much about you," his Mom greeted the boy. 

Stiles reached out to shake her hand, but she ignored it and hugged him instead. 

"Come on in. May I introduce you to my children Laura and Derek. My brother Peter will join us later too," Talia said.

Derek shook the sheriff's hand politely and was surprised by the warm expression on the man's face. Maybe the Sherif had forgotten his sins. When he finally took Stiles' hand Derek noticed several things at once.

One: The boy had outrageously beautiful amber eyes, two: he also had unusually slender fingers and three: he smelled like . . . like nothing. . .  
No, that wasn't quite right. He smelled like sage leaves and somehow sour. The scent wasn't unpleasant, but Derek was sure it wasn't Stiles' scent. Stiles scent was earthy and slightly flowery, Derek didn't want to think too hard about the fact why he still remembered the smell. Had the boy covered his scent?

But how?  
How on earth had he managed to do that? Derek's wolf was not happy about the fact that he couldn't smell Stiles' scent. How irritating! Why would his wolf care? This was so not what he had expected! This new version of Stiles Stilinski was confusing as hell!

"You should know Stiles, Derek. John told me that he was on the lacrosse team as well," Talia said. 

Stiles blushed.   
"I'm just sitting on the bench. Derek certainly never noticed me. . ." the boy stammered and Derek's wolf was pushing him to disagree.

How could anyone not notice Stiles? He was loud and clumsy and his scent was everywhere. At least when they both were in high school the boy's scent was everywhere. Fuck! Why did it bother Derek so much that he wasn't able to smell Stiles, for fuck's sake? 

"Of course I know Stiles. From Lacross practice...,' Derek replied before he could stop himself. His constant aroused smell was annoying!  
But there was no denying, something about the fact that Derek couldn't smell Stiles feelings set him on edge.

Stiles' eyes widened in surprise. A deep blush covered his cheeks and Derek had no idea why his heart missed a beat at the sight.   
  



	3. Chapter 3

When Peter arrived at his sister's house, everyone was already there - Derek, Laura, the Stilinskis.   
He still couldn't believe that Talia really ordered her children to come all the way from New York and Chicago for a family dinner. But what surprised him most was the fact that he was invited too. So Peter assumed that this was more than a getting-to-know-the-family-dinner.  
Peter was already more than curious about what she had to announce. 

He suspected that she wanted to marry the Sheriff. This wasn't really a surprise to Peter. Talia had worked very closely with the Sheriff over the past year, both were widowed and although they might not have seemed to be compatible at first glance, they were not so different after all. Peter would have been rather surprised if the two of them had not gotten together. He was a little surprised, though, that Talia was so serious about it. 

But he would certainly not complain. It was surely an advantage to have a sheriff in the family. 

In a good mood, he welcomed the guests and his family and sat down at the table. Talia had put a lot of effort to prepare the food. Roasted Lamb with Mashed Potatoes and Roasted Brussels Sprouts! What the heck? It wasn't Christmas or Thanksgiving after all! Talia really made lamb for a family dinner? Okay, there was definitely more about this, not just a wedding. 

Peter knew that his sister could cook like a chef, but she only made delicacies like these when there was a good reason to celebrate. Peter didn't claim that a wedding wasn't a reason to jubilate, but for werewolves it was. . . it was not as big of a deal as for humans. After all, a human wedding was only on paper a union for eternity, whereas a mating was a bond that really lasted forever. Or at least until one of the mates died. 

This could only mean one thing. Either the Sheriff was willing to get the bite to become a werewolf or Talia and he would mate. Or both?  
Wow. Peter was surprised that he hadn't noticed how serious the matter was. Curious he looked at his sister and smiled at her. He noticed the tension draining a little from her shoulders. Talia was nervous. He hadn't seen her like this for a long time. 

Peter had to admit that he started to enjoy the evening. He liked surprises, at least positive ones. The couple seemed to have decided not to drop the bomb until after dinner. That was a good idea. He wasn't sure how Derek and Laura would take the news. After all, their father had also been human and Talia had never offered him the bite. Inconspicuously he looked at his niece and nephew. Laura was in a good mood as usual. Happily she chatted with the Sheriff and his son. Derek, on the other hand, was grumpy as usual. The only noticeable change in his behaviour was the fact that he kept looking at the Sheriff's son. 

Something about the boy seemed to irritate Derek.  
Interesting!   
Peter loved to watch people. And Derek and Stiles' interactions were quite amusing. The boy seemed awkwardly intent on ignoring Derek. And Derek smelled. . . he smelled angry about it.   
Oh!   
This was more than exciting. What was also striking was the fact that Peter couldn't smell any emotion on Stiles. He was sure that this was one of the reasons that brought Derek so on edge. Stiles had used a mixture of herbs to hide his scent, and any werewolf who didn't pay attention could have easily mistaken the smell for his scent, but the fact that it never changed revealed to Peter that it wasn't his natural odour. But how did the boy manage to hide his scent? 

There were only two options.  
Either an emissary had helped him or he was an emissary himself. But he didn't smell anyone else on the boy, so Peter assumed that Stiles had done it himself and whether he knew it or not, the boy had magical abilities and was therefore not human. The Sherif smelled human to Peter though. Maybe the mother had magic? 

The evening became more and more appealing to Peter. When they finished the delicious dinner and Talia, with Laura's help, served the dessert, she cleared her throat and started with her speech. 

"Now before we eat dessert, I'd like to tell you why we're all here today. You've probably wondered why I let you all come. Of course, so that our families can get to know each other, but also to let you all know that John and I not only want to get married but we also want to mate and... and John is willing to take the bite. I know this might seem out of the blue for you, but we hope you will be as happy about the news as we are."  
She looked around expectantly. Well, Peter wasn't too surprised by the information. He had it all figured out. But everyone else seemed downright shocked. Especially the Sherif's kid.

"No!" Stiles screamed after he got over his obvious shock. 

"Stiles, please calm down. I promise you that I have thought this through carefully," the Sherif tried to comfort him. 

"But why? Talia's late husband was also human. Why can't you stay human?" The boy's voice sounded desperate and Peter felt that he was struggling with tears. But the question was legitimate. 

"Stiles, I didn't want to tell you, but my heart isn't getting any better. When you went to summer camp with Scott last summer, I had a little heart attack and. . . "

"You had a heart attack and didn't tell me? What the hell. . . Dad!"  
Stiles looked at his father with a hurt expression on his face. It was more than clear that he felt betrayed.

"Stiles, I didn't want you to worry. Fortunately, everything went well. And once I'm a werewolf, that problem won't exist anymore," the Sherif explained.

"Oh, is that it? Do you want to be with my mom so she can save you? She is certainly willing to transform you without you having to marry or mate her. You could. . . " Derek said cold.

"Derek! Stop it! John and I love each other and I don't want you to talk to my mate like this! John will be an important part of this pack and so will Stiles if he wants to join us," she stopped Derek with her alpha voice. Derek quit talking immediately and just stared at her. 

"Dad, do you really want to do this?" The Sheriff's kid wanted to know after a while. 

"Stiles, your father and I have decided to mate. We love each other and want to spend the rest of our lives together. And I want him to be safe! And I want you in my pack, both of you. Your father because I love him and you because your father loves you, Stiles," Talia answered and reached for the Sherif's hand.

The Sheriff looked a little pale. Fearfully he looked at his son and Peter knew at that moment that John Stilinski would indeed give up everything if his son did not approve.  
Wow. He really must love his son. But Peter suspected that the two men were very closely connected by the death of the mother. It made sense.   
Stiles looked at his father and nodded barely noticeably. Immediately Sheriff Stilinski's shoulders relaxed. 

"But I'm just human and I'd be the only human in this pack. I have no idea where my place in this new family would be and I have no clue how to fit into a werewolf pack," Stiles said unhappily. 

"Stiles! You are my son! That's your place in this family!" the Sherif replied. 

"Dad, I understand that you want to marry Talia or mate her or both, and I also understand that you want to be a werewolf because of your heart. If it helps to keep you alive, then of course I want that too. Even though I won't get over the fact that you didn't trust me enough to tell me about the heart attack. But I don't know if I want to be in a pack where I'm the only human. I know Mr. Hale was human too, and apparently he was okay with it, but. . . "

The poor boy seemed completely lost. Peter knew it was time to intervene.

"But Stiles. You've got it all wrong. The only human at this table is your dad, and as we just heard, this fact will change soon," Peter said and waited patiently until the full extent of his words had sunk in. 

Stiles was the first to recover from his shock. 

"What do you mean? That I'm not human?" he asked in confusion.

  
Clever boy! 

"Yes, that's exactly what I meant!" Peter said and nodded. 

  
He smelled irritation and anger radiating from Derek. Oh, Peter was looking forward to having more family reunions like this in the future. Now that they soon had two new members, he expected to have a lot of fun. Especially the tension between Derek and Stiles was promising. And suddenly everyone was talking at the same time. He didn't understand one word but it was funny to watch the angry and confused faces. Peter waited until everyone had calmed down again. 

"What do you mean. Why am I not human?" Stiles now looked Peter straight in the eyes, his whole body radiated magic. How could no one notice? 

"Come on guys, didn't anyone wonder how this kid managed to hide his scent from us? I don't even want to ask why it was necessary in the first place," Peter said and winked conspiratorially at Stiles.

He had seen the boy secretly looking at his nephew and most importantly, he had noticed how his face fell when Talia had mentioned that Derek had a girlfriend. Stiles was clearly in love with Derek. And the boy thought his love was unrequited. Peter wasn't so sure. Even though Derek had a girlfriend at the moment, his scent told Peter that he cared a lot more than he should about the Sherif's kid. 

Stiles shrugged. 

  
"It's just a combination of herbs. There is nothing magical about that!"

  
"Stiles, humans can't hide their scent from us. Not with all the herbs in the world. At least not as well as you can. You'd have to use magic to do that. Jesus! Peter's right! You are not human, you're a spark!" Talia said, staring at Stiles in disbelieve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and Comments are my biggest motivation!!!!


	4. Chapter 4

"Stiles, this is wonderful! I knew when you told me about the ointment that your magic would be strong. So it doesn't surprise me you worked this little spell without any problems!"; Olga said with a big grin on her face when he managed to let a plant grow only by using his magic. 

Her Polish accent was even stronger when she got emotional. Even though Stiles had only spoken to the druid via Skype, he felt that he already knew her well. In reality, they had known each other for only four weeks and their only contact was via the internet, as Olga lived in Poland. Peter had made the connection after Stiles refused to work with Deaton. Deaton was the emissary of Talia Hale's pack and Stiles didn't want his new family to know about his errors while he was learning magic and Stiles was sure that there would be a lot of defeats. He didn't want to look like an even bigger loser in front of Derek than he already did. So he learned to use his magic via Skype instead of asking Deaton for help. Olga made time for him twice a week. Which was very nice, since she didn't even know him. But she said that druids or emissaries had to stick together. Besides, it seemed she owed Peter a favour. Peter Hale was a bit weird, he was always nice to Stiles, though. Somehow Stiles had the impression that Talia's brother understood that he felt like an outsider in his new family. 

  
Stiles was used to taking care of his father, to seeing that the man ate healthily, he had always been the one who made sure that his father slept enough, Stiles was the one who took care of the grocery shopping and he did the laundry. All this was no longer necessary and Stiles realized that he had enjoyed being needed. But nobody needed him in this new family. His father was now a werewolf and even had celebrated his first full moon run. He seemed healthier and happier than ever and Stiles knew he should be happy for him, but it was hard. Of course he was glad that the sheriff could now eat what he wanted without having to watch his heart and most of all Stiles was glad that he no longer had to worry about the Sheriff's safety when he was on patrol. Stiles loved his father more than anything and he knew that his dad enjoyed being a werewolf. But somehow Stiles felt. . . redundant.   
It was almost frightening how quickly the Sheriff and Stiles had moved in with the Hales. They now lived in a big house with sound- and smell proofed rooms. The forest started right on their doorstep. An ideal environment for wolves, as his dad explained to him with a beaming grin. Stiles couldn't complain because he had a big room with a beautiful view of the forest and yet Stiles missed his old room and if he was honest, he missed his old life.

Even though Peter had claimed that he was not purely human, he was not a werewolf and this made him an outsider in his new family. Nobody asked him if he wanted to be part of nightly forest walks, he couldn't smell what mood the others were in. This often gave him the feeling that they were communicating in another language. A language that he not only didn't understand but didn't even hear. It was like his father was behind glass. Stiles could watch the Sheriff, but he couldn't really participate in his life anymore and that made Stiles very sad. Besides, he had no one to talk to about it. Scott rarely had the time and if Stiles was honest, he had no other friends who were close enough so he wanted to talk to them about it. The only ray of hope was Olga Wiśniewska.

"You said it yourself, Olga, these are beginner's exercises," Stiles laughed.

"That may be true, but I would call any druid who hasn't spent more than five years working with his magic a beginner. This last exercise would still be hard for a magician after two years of practice and you had no problem with it." Olga said. 

"Wow, really?"

"Yes! And that's why I can say that not only are you very talented, but you must also have a lot of magic," she continued. 

Stiles could do nothing about the slight blush that spread across his cheeks. He was not used to being praised. 

"We should consider to magically mask your scent. It's not good that you keep using that ointment, Stiles," Olga said. 

Stiles knew where she came from. A few weeks ago Talia mentioned his ointment as well. Stiles made it a habit of using the ointment even when Derek wasn't around and with few exceptions during full moons or important events like Thanksgiving, Derek thankfully didn't come home. 

But the ointment was no longer just for the fact that nobody was able to smell how much Stiles was attracted to Derek. He also didn't want his father to smell how much he suffered because things changed since the Sheriff became a werewolf. His dad deserved to be happy and Stiles didn't want him to worry. So Stiles put on his happy face and suffered in silence. Even though Talia didn't think it was a good idea to hide his scent. According to her, humans also found their partners through their scent. They just didn't consciously realize it. Apparently, the scent usually matures at the age of about eighteen, so people were able to attract potential partners. But Stiles did not want to attract a potential partner. First, he had to get over his stupid little crush on Derek. But using a spell for hiding his scent would be awesome. 

"You know a way to mask my scent without the ointment? Why didn't you tell me this earlier? This would be amazing! Can we do it right away?" Stiles said, excitement in his voice.

Olga smiled at him and nodded. 

"Yes, but we have to be careful. We wouldn't want your scent to change permanently. The purpose of the spell is to keep it from changing. No werewolf will be able to smell your feelings, but you would still smell like yourself only without the feelings you want to hide and without the third component of your scent." She said.

"The third component?" Stiles asked confused.

He had never heard of something like the third component.

"Yeah. Its something only werewolf can recognize. If a werewolf smells your third component he or she will know if you are their mate. It only appears when you are mature enough for the mating process though. And of course because you are not a werewolf this doesn't mean you have to like your mate back. You can decide if you want them or not but in most cases it's mutual and since you are a magical creature as well you are able to create a lifelong bond," Olga explained.

Oh wow! Stiles made a mental note to look it up later.

"If we practice it a little bit, you might even let some feelings seep through and others not, so your scent would smell natural to your surroundings," she further explained. 

With her flaming red hair and catlike eyes, she looked almost dangerously magical. Especially when she was happy to try something new with Stiles. 

"Would a mate recognize me without the third component?" Stiles wanted to know.

Even though he couldn't imagine falling in love with someone else than Derek at the moment, he still considered Talia's words.

"Yes and no. Only a human mate would recognize you, as you mask the third component of your scent with the spell. You would smell incredibly good to a werewolf mate, but his wolf would not recognize you," she said. "Why are you asking? Do you have someone in mind?"

"Oh no! I was just curious. Can we start now?" Stiles quickly said. Of course he had no one in mind! Why would he?

***

Together with Olga, Stiles not only created the spell to mask his scent but also a spell to influence his heart rate. And this was even more awesome. Stiles was very thankful for his mother's genes. He was sure she was a druid herself, but Stiles didn't know if she was aware of the fact. 

A few weeks later, Stiles learned to appreciate the recently learned magic. It was the weekend before Christmas when Derek finally came home. Of course, this was no surprise, because Talia was expecting every family member for the holidays. No one would have dared not to come. What Stiles didn't expect though, was that Derek didn't come alone, but with his girlfriend. 

  
And fuck! Knowing Derek had a girlfriend was one thing, but seeing the two of them together was quite something else.   
Paige was incredibly beautiful and smart and sweet.   
In one sentence: she was perfect and Derek was obviously smitten.

  
Talia was excited that Derek had brought home a girl for Chrismas and Stiles felt sick. Thankfully nobody noticed thanks to his new magical tricks. He even managed to smile during their Christmas celebration.

Christmas had never been easy for him since his mother had died because Stiles still associated the smell of cinnamon cookies, Christmas decorations and all the other Christmas stuff with his mother. But this Christmas was the worst since the year Claudia Stilinski died. He just wanted it to be over and Derek to go back to New York. But of course, the heartless werewolf planned on staying until New Year's Day. 

  
Fuck his life! Stiles never thought he would ever hate winter break and he never imagined that it could be so exhausting to put on a happy face all day even though all he wanted to do was to hide n his room and cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are my motivators ^^


	5. Chapter 5

"Oh God, Derek! Sex with you is insane!" Paige moaned exhausted as Derek rolled off of her and tried to get his breath under control.

He was once again grateful for the soundproofed rooms. Not only because all werewolves would have been able to eavesdrop on them during sex otherwise, but especially because Paige was loud enough that even Stiles with his human ears would have heard her. Derek had no idea why he felt like he was cheating on Stiles by having sex with his girlfriend, but fuck, he really felt guilty. Even if it didn't make any sense at all. 

  
When they arrived, he had been surprised when he noticed that Stiles was no longer hiding his scent. The boy smelled like he used to before he was wearing the ointment, but without the sweet smell of arousal. And Derek wondered once again why this bothered his wolf so much. After all, this was one of the major reason why Derek used to find the boy so annoying. No matter how far away Stiles was, Derek always smelled the sweet scent of his arousal. Every single school day until he finally left high school. It was as if the boy's scent dispelled all the other scents. Even in the cafeteria, Derek was able to smell it! But now Stiles seemed to be totally unaffected by Derek. Stiles scent hardly changed in the presence of the werewolf.

  
At first Derek thought Stiles had found a way to magically mask the smell. After all, Peter had guessed that Stiles had magical abilities, but of course that was absurd. Creating an ointment was one thing, but magically manipulating your smell was something completely different. Not only did Derek know from Deaton that it took many years for an emissary to be capable of magically hiding the scent of a person, but also Stiles heartbeat would have given him away. But Stile's heart was always steady in Derek's presence. Derek couldn't resist parading around in anything more but a towel after a shower for a few times. Twice he had met Stiles on his way from the bathroom back to his room, but the fact that Derek was almost naked in front of the boy hadn't impressed Stiles at all. He hardly paid any attention to Derek and his scent remained as unaffected as his heartbeat. How was it possible that Stiles didn't find him attractive anymore? Derek had initially suspected that Stiles had used the ointment because he was ashamed of his attraction to Derek. Therefore, he was very relieved that Stiles had found a way to hide his emotions. But now. . .

"Hey, what are you thinking? You seem like you're a thousand miles away," Paige said and kissed his shoulder.

And again he had the feeling that it wasn't right to lie here with Paige while Stiles was just in the next room. Like Paige shouldn't lie naked and sweaty next to him. What the hell was wrong with him? 

  
"Babe?"

  
"Sorry! I. . . I just couldn't help but think that when we get back to New York, all the stress will start up again. Learning, working..." Derek replied and ran his hand over his face. Luckily, Paige wasn't a werewolf, otherwise she would have known he was lying to her.

  
"We just had amazing sex and you're thinking about college? Sometimes you're such a douche!" she complained and sat up. "Since I don't expect you to want to cuddle, I'm going to take a shower."

  
Fuck! She smelled angry, but he couldn't really blame her.

  
"Paige! I'm sorry..." he apologized half-heartedly. 

  
"Forget it. You've been acting weird ever since we got here," she said and got up. 

  
Oh, God, she was right. He really was an idiot. He just had sex with his beautiful sexy girlfriend and thought about his stepbrother. What the fuck was wrong with him? It was a mistake to stay in Beacon Hills for so long. Why had he let himself be persuaded by his friends to spend New Year eve with them? Of course, it was nice to meet Erika, Boyd and Isaak again. After all, they had all ended up at different colleges. But for the salvation of his soul, it would have been better to fly back to New York as soon as possible. Paige grabbed one of his shirts which were lying on the floor. 

  
"I get that you don't want to hold hands or make out in front of your family, but in your room? This room is fucking soundproofed! I ... sometimes it seems that . . . you don't want any of this," she said, smelling so sad that Derek felt even more like a monster.

  
Fuck! He had to get his shit together. Stiles couldn't become the reason for the failure of his relationship with Paige for fuck's sake! He quickly got up and went towards her before she could leave the room. He hugged her and kissed her cheek. 

  
"I'm sorry baby. I don't know what's wrong with me either. Somehow. . . somehow this place doesn't feel like home anymore. Ever since my mother married the Sheriff and we moved here, everything has changed. That's also the reason why I needed you to come with me," he apologised and buried his face in her neck. 

  
He hoped that her scent would calm him down, but as usual, it did not. Her scent did not affect him at all. Paige stroked his head reassuringly. 

  
"It's okay, Derek. I understand that and if you want to talk to me, I am here, but if you're just brooding and I don't understand why you're so grumpy, then I think it's my fault, that I did something wrong. So please talk to me baby, okay?" she said and oh, God, Derek deserved to burn in hell.

Paige was such an angel and he was the devil, because even now his inner wolf was rising and insisting that she was the wrong person. Fucking instincts! He didn't understand what his inner wolf wanted.

Paige kissed his cheek.

  
"I'm gonna take a shower, and after dinner, we could go see a movie. What do you think?" she suggested. 

  
Derek nodded. Yes, a movie would certainly be a good distraction from his confusing feelings.  
She smiled at him and opened the door to go to the bathroom. Exactly the moment she opened the door, Stiles and Laura were walking past his room. For a second Derek imagined to see pain in Stiles' eyes and Derek thought he was smelling hurt. Also, there was something that set Derek's wolf on edge, but before he could name it, Stiles was back to normal and Paige closed the door behind her. 

  
Fuck! Fuck! Derek felt guiltier than ever. He just didn't know why. Yes, of course the reason he felt guilty was the fact that Stiles surely knew that Derek and Paige were having sex. But why should the boy mind? Surely Derek had only imagined the wounded look. And Paige was his girlfriend. Of course Derek would have sex with her! For sure even his mother was aware of that.   
When he and Paige went downstairs for dinner half an hour later, everyone else was already in the kitchen. Everyone except Stiles and the Sheriff.

The latter was on duty, but why wasn't Stiles there? 

  
"Where's Stiles?" Derek wanted to know. A heavy feeling spread inside of him. 

  
"Stiles is sick. He was apparently not feeling well all day, but now he really has a fever. I didn't notice anything before, but when I was in his room earlier I could smell the fever. I think it would be better for him to stay in bed," Laura explained and Derek felt like the ground was being pulled out from under his feet.

Stiles was sick! Somehow Derek knew it was his fault. Fuck!   
Thalia looked at Laura. 

  
"Please set the table. I'll go and check on him," she said and left the kitchen with a worried face. 

  
Derek was feeling miserable. After a few minutes his mother came back. Her face was still very worried. 

  
"How is he?"; Laura wanted to know. 

  
"Not very good. I'm really worried. I wanted to get Deaton, but Stiles wouldn't let me. Maybe his father can persuade him later. Or if he doesn't want to see Deaton, maybe we could at least call for a human doctor," she said. 

  
"Oh your poor little brother. He always looks so pale. I hope he will be better soon," Paige said with real empathy.

  
"We are not related," Derek stated before he could stop himself.

Everyone was staring at him. Laura and Paige seemed to be surprised, especially by his hard tone. The look on his mother,'s face, however, seemed sad and uncle Peter looked at him curiously. 

  
"No, I didn't mean it like that. Of course we are one family, but... I just meant we're not really related by blood, Stiles is just my stepbrother," Derek muttered.

  
Fuck! What was wrong with him today? It didn't matter if Paige thought Stiles was his brother. Why did it bother him so much that his wolf almost went crazy?


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you all are well, dear friends!

It got better. After Stiles made this, admittedly moderate, nasty fever trick, he hadn't seen Derek.  
Thank God!   
Stiles life was much easier without the werewolf! 

  
Meanwhile, Stiles was close to graduation and he had the feeling that he was almost over Derek.   
Of course he knew deep in his heart that this was bullshit. He was far from being over Derek. It was a hopeless case. Stiles didn’t know if he would ever be over the werewolf, to be honest. 

  
He would suffer again in summer at the latest. Surely Derek would come home with Paige. For sure Derek wasn't planning on being separated from his girlfriend all summer long.

Oh god, the very idea of spending a whole summer with Dereck and his girlfriend was horrible! Couldn't they spend the summer with Paige's parents? Stiles could hardly spend a whole summer pretending to have a fever to avoid his stepbrother and his perfect girlfriend. Shit!   
At some point, Talia would insist for Deaton to have a look at him and the emissary would see right through his trickery.   
Last Christmas he had easily been able to fool the human doctor but Deaton would be something completely different. 

  
However, Stiles still felt guilty because his father was really worried about him. But he simply couldn't think of a better excuse at that time and since nobody but Olga knew how well his magical abilities were already trained, nobody suspected anything.

  
During spring break Derek fortunately had not come home. He only came once a month for the full moon days. But it wasn't hard to avoid the werewolves on those days. They were so busy with themselves that nobody took any notice of him.  
With a sigh, he bit into the cucumber sandwich he had just prepared and poured himself a glass of milk. He briefly thought about baking some cookies but rejected the idea. He still had a lot to do for school and in about an hour his lesson with Olga would start. They had been practising daily now. Olga had insisted. She said that his power was so strong that he would need all the support he could get. Stiles didn't mind. He liked the lessons with Olga.   
  
"Hey, son. It's quite unusual for you to be at home at this time of day," his father said when he joined Stiles in the kitchen. He opened the fridge and also started to prepare a sandwich. Of course, he was no longer dependent on it containing lots of vegetables and turkey instead of fat cheese and sausage. And so the sheriff loaded all kinds of unhealthy things on his sandwich. It was still strange for Stiles to let his father eat all the red meat he seemed to need. With a full plate and a glass of orange juice, the sheriff sat down next to Stiles. 

  
"How's Scott? I haven't seen him in a while. There were times when the two of you could hardly be separated with a crowbar," his father wanted to know.

  
"Oh, Scott's fine. He's just stressed with balancing school and his girlfriend. There's not much time left to hang out with me," Stiles answered truthfully. 

  
The sheriff nodded and took a big bite of his sandwich. 

  
"And how are you, son? And where do you always go if Scott has no time for you? You leave the house every afternoon for hours. Should I be worried?" his father asked with his mouth full. 

  
"No, Dad. You don't have to worry. I just discovered my love for walks in the forest."  
  
And that was true. Lately, he had discovered kind of a hobby that gave him more peace of mind than the medicine he had to take because of his ADHD ever did. He now spent several hours a day in the forest. To be more precise, he spent the time nearby a big tree stump. It was strange, but even though the tree itself had been felled a long time ago, Styles somehow knew that it was still alive and in fact, several weeks after his first visit, a sprout grew in the middle of the stump. Stiles couldn't believe it at first. And for some reason, it made him incredibly happy. Even though it was probably just a coincidence and he had nothing to do with it, Stiles always felt that he had revived the tree. Stiles now spent most of his spare time in the forest. This went so far that he sometimes studied there for school. His days, even the weekends, were filled with Olga, studying for school, homework and visits to the forest. In between even Scott sometimes managed to make time for Stiles and thank God Derek was far away. So one could say that it went quite well for Stiles at the moment. Not perfect, but it was okay. 

  
“You take walks in the woods? What the hell, Stiles? Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

  
The sheriff had put the sandwich back on the plate and looked at him in shock. 

  
"Stiles, I think I don't have to tell you that the forest is not exactly the ideal place for a human. Especially not alone! Not all packs are as calm as ours, especially to strangers,” his father said with a worried expression on his face.  
  
“Dad, I'm just staying on Hale land, I promise. No other werewolf would dare to attack me there," Stiles assured.   
  
His father looked at him sternly.   
  
“Okay, son. If you promise to stay on our territory, it's probably okay. Although I really don't understand what you're doing there. What do you do in the woods for hours?"; his father wanted to know. “And I would really appreciate it if you finally saw yourself as part of the pack, Stiles. It's not the Hale pack. It's our pack, yours too. You're an important part of this family, Stiles.”  
  
His father now looked him straight in the eye. Stiles could barely suppress a joyless laugh. How could he be important to anyone in this pack? Yes, of course he was important for his father, but for everyone else. . . They very nice to him, sure. It would be unfair to say otherwise. But important? He was hardly important to them. But his father's worried look kept Stiles from saying anything. What would be the point? He didn't want to make his father feel guilty. The sheriff seemed happier than he has been since Stiles' mother died. Stiles wouldn't spoil it by telling him the truth.   
  
“I know, Dad, it's just still weird that we're part of a pack now. But I'll get used to it, I’m sure!” he replied sounding happier than he felt. 

  
“Good!” the sheriff said and kept eating his sandwich.   
  
Stiles got up, carried his own empty plate and the empty milk glass to the sink and went to his room with the excuse that he still had a lot to do for school.


	7. Chapter 7

"Peter! To what do I owe the pleasure of your call? I assume that you are not just calling to say hello," Olga greeted him. 

"No, I wanted to know how my favourite step-nephew is doing," Peter replied. 

He liked Olga. Especially because she didn't beat around the bush, but said what she thought. People like her were refreshing. Especially when he wasn't able to smell his counterpart, which always irritated him when he had to talk to people through the phone.   
How the hell did humans do this? He also couldn't see the facial expressions of the people he talked to. So, using a phone was an odd concept. But he had to admit that it had its advantages. Otherwise it would have been very difficult to contact Olga at such short notice.

"Your favourite step-nephew? Stiles is your only step-nephew, but whatever. Stiles is doing great. I don't have to tell you that he's very talented. And he's fun to work with. One day he will be a good druid for a pack,"; she explained.

"Oh Olga, come on. Don't tell me fairy tales. We both know that you're not giving Stiles enough credit. The boy spends every day in the woods and when I was strolling around there myself yesterday by chance, I noticed that there is a little sprout on the stump of the tree. The Nemeton is alive, Olga! After all these years."

Peter couldn't believe it at first but it was true. It was like a miracle! Of course, it was immediately clear to him that Stiles was the reason for it.  
Olga sighed. 

"I know. Stiles told me. I now practice with him every day to prepare him. You know what it means when the Nemeton comes to life again, Peter,"; she replied.

And of course Peter knew what it meant. Stiles had to be a very powerful emissary if the holy tree came to life because of him. 

"Yes, I know what it means, Olga. Stiles has more power than one might think at first glance. I recognized this immediately, but fortunately, most humans and also werewolves are blind. I know he's fooling us all. He masks his true scent and his magic," Peter explained. 

"I've done some research. It seems his mother was a druid of the Voch dynasty. I'm not quite sure yet, so I haven't told you or Stiles, but if that's true, then Stiles is very, very powerful. However, he has not yet received enough training and the Nemeton could attract attention as it grows bigger. All the magicians in your area would sense him. Everyone would want Stiles in their pack. And since the boy still doesn't consider your pack as his own, you could easily lose him. Besides, it would be good for him to find his mate. This would not only further strengthen his power but also stabilize it," Olga explained and Peter gasped. 

Stiles came from the Voch dynasty? Jesus Christ! The sheriff had been married to an Emissary and Peter was sure the man had no clue.

"But why did Stiles' mother marry the sheriff? Why wasn't she a member of a pack? And how the fuck did it happen that she died in the first place? If she was so powerful, it must have been easy for her to heal herself?"

Peter was confused. It didn't make sense. Why would she leave her husband and son behind and die when she had the opportunity to do something about it? 

"From what I know so far, two packs have been fighting over her. During the fights, her future mate died and she left the country forever. Maybe she rejected magic afterwards and refused to use it to heal herself," Olga suggested. 

"I don't know. She left a child behind. I think the sheriff once mentioned that Stiles was only eight years old when his mother died. Don't you think she would have made an exception for her beloved child? It doesn't make sense!" Peter said. 

"No, it makes sense. If she had used magic, especially such powerful magic, this wouldn't have gone unnoticed. I think she was afraid to put Stiles and his father in danger. She probably thought it was better to die than to let that happen. She already lost one person she loved due to her magic," Olga explained and Peter had to admit that it really made sense. 

If anybody had noticed how powerful she was, a werewolf would have wanted to claim her. Whether she was married or not. Human weddings didn't mean much to werewolves. What would have happened to Stiles and the sheriff then, Peter preferred not to imagine. 

"Do you think Stiles is in danger," Peter wanted to know.   
"Not now, but when the Nemeton is fully grown. It would be very important for him to find his mate until then. It would be best for your pack, of course, if that person would be willing to join your pack. But for Stiles, the most important thing is to find his mate. Druids always have werewolf mates! I'm surprised he didn't find them already. Most druids meet their mates in their teenage years. Of course the werewolves won't be able to smell all components of his scent until he is about eighteen but Stiles should be in love with this person for a long time. Druids are as monogamous as werewolves. Did he never mentioned anything?"

Sadly he didn't, Peter thought. At least not to him. However. . . Peter had always been sceptical about the fact that Stiles always hides his scent. Why did the boy go through all this trouble? Probably to hide something he thought was embarrassing. And Peter made every bet that it had something to do with Derek. However, the fact that Stiles hid his scent even when Derek was miles away was still mysterious

"To be honest, I have no idea. But I have noticed a certain. . . let's call it tension. . . between Stiles and my nephew Derek," Peter replied thoughtfully. 

Was it possible? Could Stiles and Derek be mates? Derek only ever had girlfriends so far, but that didn't mean he didn't like boys as well. For werewolves gender didn't matter as much as it did for humans. Yet, he would not find out as long as Stiles was masking his scent. Somehow Peter had to make it possible that Derek could smell all three components of Stiles scent. 

"As you know, Stiles masks his scent. If Derek is his mate, he wouldn't know," Peter thought aloud. 

"That's true, but your nephew would be attracted to Stiles as well and I think Stiles once mentioned that Derek has a girlfriend. So it would be highly unlikely. You could. . . you could try and make Derek jealous, though. Scent or not, if your nephew is interested, his wolf would go crazy if he saw Stiles with someone else, or worse if he saw another wolf with Stiles," Olga said. 

Oh, that was a great idea! Not only would this be a good way to find out how his nephew felt. Maybe this would even be a revelation for Derek himself. But most of all it would certainly be very funny to watch how they interacted. Peter rubbed his hands happily. 

"Olga you're the best!"; he praised. 

The woman laughed. 

"I know your brain will immediately start making plans, Peter. Have fun! But please be careful not to hurt Stiles' feelings. He has a hard time adjusting to this new family arrangements. Try not to drive him further away from your pack," she said. 

"I'll try my best, Olga. Pushing Stiles away is the opposite of what I want, so I will be careful. Thanks for all the info. I will keep you informed," Peter promised and said goodbye to her. 

They ended the conversation and Peter began to make plans immediately, just as Olga had said he would.


	8. Chapter 8

„Wow, you are serious, aren’t you?“ Paige asked, looking at Derek like she couldn’t believe it. 

But what did she expect? His mother was his Alpha for fuck’s sake! There was no way he would refuse her. And besides, even if he didn’t like it, he could see the reason why it was important for him to come home during summer break. And he also could see why Talia wanted him to come without his girlfriend so he could focus on the guests. Even if he wasn't a big fan of the Dorn pack, it would be good to form alliances. The Dorn pack was huge and strong. They would be very good partners. So, of course, he would do what Talia expected from him.

"Paige, we've talked about this so many times. . . ," he tried to calm her down.

"Yes, we have, but apparently it still wasn't enough. You still do everything your mother wants like a little boy. Derek, we were gonna spend the summer together. And now I can sit around alone for a whole month while you and your family and your new werewolf friends have fun. This isn't fair. After all, your brother is only human too and I don't think he needs to stay away," she whined. 

And yes, she was right. Stiles was allowed to be there and she wasn't, but Talia's words were clear. Stiles was pack and she wasn't. At least not yet. 

"Paige. . . "

"No, don't Paige me. I wanna know why he is allowed to stay and I am not," she demanded. 

Derek rubbed his eyes with his thumb. He was so tired of this. Why was it so hard for her to understand. Peter had warned him that humans often wouldn't understand the dynamics of a pack. Now he knew how right his uncle was. Although he'd never admit that out loud. 

"Stiles is the Sheriff's son, of course he'll be there. After all, he lives in the house. The Sheriff would never allow him to be sent away. Besides, Stiles is pack, he is one of us. . . " 

Even before he finished the sentence, he knew it was a big mistake.   
Paige stared at him with a hurt look on her face. 

"Oh I see!. Stiles is one of you even if he is human, but I am not. Can't you see what's happening here, Derek? Your mother will never accept me," Paige said tears were already forming in her eyes.

Shit!

"No, that's not true. Of course my mother accepts you, but Stiles is my stepbrother and you're my girlfriend. Damn it, can't you see the difference?" 

Why did she always have to make everything so complicated?

"All I understand is that you and your mother always shut me out."

"Paige, I. . . "

"No, listen to me, Derek. You have three choices: either you take me with you, or you refuse to go home, or I'll break up with you. I'm not in the mood for this shit. Either you stand by me or you don't. It's your choice."

Determined, she put her hands on her hips and stared at him challengingly.   
What? She couldn't be serious. She gave him an ultimatum. An ultimatum he couldn't even think about accepting, because his Alpha had ordered him to come home. ALONE for fuck's sake! 

"Okay, so that's it? I don't do what you want and you just break up with me?" he asked. 

"You really prefer to obey your mother and lose me, don't you? I can't believe it. You're such an asshole!" she scolded. 

He knew he could be an asshole, but this time he didn't feel the slightest bit guilty. If Paige would bother to deal with werewolf issues just once, she would know he had no choice. You had to have a really good reason to act against your Alpha. And even then. . .  
Werewolves did what their Alpha wanted them to do. If not, then they ran the risk of having to leave the pack. He didn't believe that his mother would throw him out of the pack, but he wasn't sure. No Alpha could afford to have his Betas disobeying. But maybe it was better if he and Paige split up anyway. She had never been interested in his werewolf side. But his werewolf side was there and it was an important part of his personality, even if it was annoying to Paige. Derek would always be a werewolf.  
Exhausted, he looked at her. 

"Say something to Derek," she demanded.

"What more is there to say? You cannot accept that the rules are different in werewolf families. So maybe it's better if we do break up."

"Oh, no, my dear. Don't blame me now! This has nothing to do with you being a werewolf. I'm just not important enough for you,"; she replied indignantly. 

And maybe she was right. Maybe he really didn't care about her enough. Maybe he was romantic and idiotic enough to wait for his mate and he had known from the beginning that Paige was not his mate. Probably he had always accepted the expiration date of this relationship because he knew that he would go back to Beacon Hills after college and he also knew that he would not take Paige with him.   
Wow, it was true. He really was the asshole in this scenario.   
Fuck! 

"I'm sorry, Paige. You're right. I never bothered to look at it from your side,' he confessed. 

Her eyes immediately went soft and she came towards him, but Derek knew he had to end this now. It wouldn't be fair to pretend that everything was ok.

"No, it doesn't change anything, Paige. I. . . I think I'm secretly waiting for my mate."

He couldn't look her in the eye at all.

"Wow! So I was just a distraction until you find the right person?" she whispered in disbelieve.

"No! Page I'm so sorry. I didn't know this myself until a few seconds ago, but I realized that it was true. I wait for the moment when I can sink my teeth into the one person I and my wolf want to be with forever," he confessed.

"And this person isn't me," she said and it wasn't a question. 

"No it isn't you," he replied.

"Okay, wow. I didn't expect this. But somehow it makes sense. I hate you too much right now to wish you luck, but I still hope you find what you're looking for," she said, then she turned around and left his apartment. 

Fuck! 

*** 

Derek hated flying and he hated that it took forever to get his luggage until he finally was allowed to leave the airplane. He only hoped that Peter hadn't forgotten to pick him up. He had promised, but everyone who knew his uncle was aware that this didn't mean he would be there. 

So when he finally entered the reception hall, he was relieved to find that Peter was standing there waiting for him. His crazy uncle also had a sign in his hands that said: Welcome home.   
Derek had to laugh. 

"Such a touching welcome, Uncle Peter," he joked.

"Only the best for my favourite nephew!" Peter replied. 

"I am your only nephew," Derek stated objectively. 

"Well, you might be biologically but when you get right down to it, Stiles is now also kind of my nephew. So I take back that last statement. Stiles is my new favourite nephew. He's a lot funnier than you," Peter explained with a smirk on his face.

"Idiot!" Derek snorted. 

"So is there a reason we need allies right now?" Derek wanted to know when they were in the car. 

"Maybe, I am not sure. You know your mother has long hoped the Dorn Pack would become our allies. She invited Jason and Camilla Dorne to our place. And I think you and your sisters will have the pleasure to entertain them." Peter said.

Derek moaned. 

"Oh no! Please no! I hate Jason, and Camilla is such a troublesome child. Do we really have to be their babysitters?" Derek asked annoyed.

Peter laughed.

"I know," he just said. 

"Oh, God, please tell me she's not setting me up with Jason!"

Derek knew that Jason liked men more than women and his mother had hinted at him being a good catch before. Oh, God, she gotta be kidding him.  
He had told her more than once that he couldn't stand Jason. 

"Oh no, don't worry. She knows you have a girlfriend, Derek. Of course she's not setting you up with him," Peter reassured him.

"Thank God!" 

Relieved, Derek leaned back in his seat 

"But she wants to set up Stiles with him. She thinks that the two of them would make a good match and then. . . "

"What? Did she lose her mind? She can't. . . "

His inner wolf almost went crazy at the thought of Stiles and Jason together and Derek had serious trouble not to shift right in the car.   
But what the fuck? His mother couldn't possibly be serious.

He had no idea why this set him off so badly but he was sure he would do fucking everything to prevent Stiles and Jason becoming boyfriends! No way he would let that happen! Even if he had to disobey the orders of his Alpha and even if this got him into trouble. A small malicious voice in the back of his head pointed out to him that not even two days ago he had told Paige that he had to obey his Alpha, but fuck it! He couldn't just stand by and watch how that douche Jason would get together with his ma... with his stepbrother!


	9. Chapter 9

"Stiles! Stiles, would you come downstairs please," he heard Talia yelling.

Stiles knew that this meant that Jason and Camilla Dorn must have arrived. Peter had told him that the two werewolves would arrive today. According to Peter, Jason was two years older than Stiles and Camilla was eleven. 

The two Dorn kids would spend the next two weeks at the Hale's house so the two packs could get to know each other better and possibly form an alliance. Stiles had no idea about pack policy and therefore he was not very interested. Some werewolves would come to spend the full moon with the Hales and do other werewolf things. 

So what? That was none of his business. Since the werewolves had certainly not come for him, he did not intend to make a great contribution to this pack business.   
Talia had insisted for Laura and Derek to come home and take care of the guests. Stiles doubted that more than a greeting was expected of him. After all, he was just the human in this pack.   
Even though he was an emissary. No one knew how far advanced his magical abilities had become, though.   
So he was completely unimportant, but of course it would have been impolite not to welcome them. But otherwise, he had different plans for this summer. 

He had finally graduated from high school! And he would savour every second of it unabashedly. Especially because one of the most wonderful things had happened two weeks ago.   
Heather had moved back to Beacon Hills!   
His oldest and former best friend was back after ten years. It was like a miracle! Now that he had lost Scott, (at first to Allison, then during the summer to Europe and finally in the fall he would lose him to a college in Seattle) Heather was suddenly back in his life.   
Heather's and Stiles' mothers were friends and so they too had been friends as when they were little kids. That was long before Stiles found girls stupid and also long before he realized that they weren't that stupid at all. It was a time when he didn't know Scott.

And now that Scott was on a trip through Europe with his parents all summer long and then he would be attending college in Seattle in the fall, she was back. Just like that! And the best part was that Stiles and Heather got along fine right away.   
He had planned on spending his time with Heather at the lake, winning against her in all the Mario games (which wouldn't be easy, as Heather played a lot better than Scott!) and study with Olga. At least that was his ideal idea of the summer.

His new (old) friendship with Heather was so amazing that he almost managed to cope with Derek coming home for the summer break. That his stepbrother would come without his girlfriend made things a lot easier and was also further proof of how good life threatened Stiles at the moment. 

"Stiles, come downstairs, please. Our guests are here," Talia called again.

Sighing, he got up from his bed and ran downstairs.   
Because this was important to the pack, he took some effort with his appearance. That meant he didn't go downstairs in sweatpants but had put on his tight black jeans and a red t-shirt. 

"Meet my stepson, Stiles. Derek will be here soon too. Peter is picking him up from the airport. Laura will be home tomorrow," Talia explained.   
Then she turned to Stiles. "Stiles, these are Jason and Camilla from the Dorn Pack." 

Jason was a handsome werewolf with a winning smile. He was almost as well built as Derek but had blond hair and very nice blue eyes. He was the blond, friendlier counterpart of Derek. Too bad Stiles seemed more into grumpy guys!   
Camilla was a sweet little girl with a flower-patterned summer dress, two braids, a little snub nose and countless freckles. Stiles liked her right away. 

"Hey, I'm glad you're here," he said. 

Camilla beamed at him and Jason looked at him from head to toe. What the. . . was he checking Stiles out? 

"Trust me, Stiles. The pleasure is all ours!" Jason answered gallantly and yes... the werewolf was definitely checking him out.   
Wow! Stiles didn't expect this, but he couldn't say he would mind. Maybe a little attention from a good-looking werewolf would help him to get over his stupid crush on Derek.

At that moment the front door opened and Peter and Derek entered the house and Christ... Derek was looking amazing!   
It would definitely be hard to ever get over him. And the big question was if this was still only a crush or even more. 

Fuck! As usual, when Derek was around, Stiles was glad about his magical abilities. Otherwise, all the present werewolves would have smelled his feelings. Oh God! The thought alone made him cringe!

"Oh, Peter, Derek. You're just in time. Jason and Camilla have also just arrived," Talia rejoiced. 

Stiles noticed that Jason and Derek apparently didn't like each other very much. Their greeting was very frosty. 

Strange. But Stiles wouldn't spend enough time with either of them to figure out why. He was just about to politely say goodbye to go back to his room when Jason asked him about his plans for the day.   
Ahem. . . Didn't Derek come all the way from New York to spend werewolf quality time with the guests? Why would Jason want to know what Stiles' plans were?

"Actually, I had plans of going to the lake with Heather," Stiles replied. 

"Is Heather your girlfriend?"

"You have a girlfriend?" Jason and Derek said at the same time and Stiles tried not to be bothered by the surprised tone of Derek's voice. 

Fuck Derek Hale! He knew Derek had always hated it when he smelled Stiles arousal (Derek had told him often enough that he would stink the locker room back when they were both still in High School.) and he also knew Derek didn't think much of him but did his fucking stepbrother really think no one would ever want him? Wow! That really hurt. 

"Yes, even though you can't imagine it, Derek. I have a girlfriend," he lied.

He tried to keep his heartbeat steady so the werewolves wouldn't notice the shameless lie.   
Shit! He would regret this! It was more than stupid to lie to werewolves. Even if he could mask his scent and his heartbeat. 

However, he already knew that Heather would laugh so hard as soon as he told her. She'd love to put on an act playing his loving girlfriend. Still, Stiles would have to expand his magical skills, because even if he could imagine that she was a pretty passable actress, the werewolves would discover the lie quite quickly. 

He was such an idiot! He'd have to ask Olga for help. For some reason, Talia, Derek and Jason looked at him in shock. Only Peter grinned. But he had no time to think about their reactions. His mind was occupied with trying to find a way out of this misery.

"Oh! That's too bad," Jason said and Stiles was sure that he wasn't talking about the fact that Stiles had plans for the afternoon, but about the fact that he had a girlfriend.   
Christ! This was bad... really bad! Especially because Derek was growling now! Derek was fucking growling at him. What the heck? 

"You could take Jason and Camilla with you, Stiles. Or is it a date?" Talia wanted to know. 

Stiles swallowed hard. 

"Okay, yes of course you can come with us, it's not a date," he replied. 

"I'm coming too," Derek growled. 

Oh, God, no! This just got worse and worse. He was able to mask his scent and his heartbeat but he wouldn't be able to hide a boner. Fuck! How on earth should he survive Derek Hale in swimming trunks?

But he had no choice. He would need a little more time to warn Heather and ask Olga for help before they could leave, though. 

"So... we can leave in an hour. I. . . I promised Scott I'd Skype with him," he lied again. 

"Now? Honey, Scott's in Italy. It's in the middle of the night there right now!" Talia wondered and fuck...! She was right. Stiles had completely forgotten about the time difference. 

"I ... I know. You remember Scot, don't you? He has always been a bit weird. See you later," he said quickly and ran up the stairs to his room. 

He could only pray that Olga was awake. Otherwise, he was fucked.   
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! He was the biggest idiot on earth!


	10. Chapter 10

"You did what? Oh God Stiles, I had completely forgotten how amazing my everyday life was when you are around. Even when we were kids you had the funniest ideas. Another reason I am glad to be back. I really missed this."

Heather laughed so hard, Stiles knew she would have tears of joy in her eyes. At least she had fun. even if this situation was so not funny. Not for him.

"That's not funny, Heather. I'm about to have a panic attack! What am I supposed to do now,?" Stiles whined.

Stiles was really desperate. Olga didn't answer her phone. Of course he knew that it was in the middle of the night in Poland, but why couldn't fate be on his side just for once? Dammit! Hey was so fucked!

"Now calm down, Stiles. It's certainly not as bad as you say," Heather tried to soothe him, still laughing.

"Not bad? You have no idea. I said you are my girlfriend. Derek can smell that I was lying on you. Fuck! It's a very bad idea to lie to a werewolf! I'm such an idiot!" Stiles groaned.

"I know I'm one of your best friends and maybe it would be polite to say that you're not an idiot, but sometimes you're really stupid, Stiles. Why is it so important what Derek thinks about you anyway?" she asked and Stiles didn't know how to respond.

Should he tell her the truth? That he was stupidly in love with his stepbrother, who was way out of his league and had a girlfriend.

"Ahem. . . I. . . well," he stuttered.

"Okay, what about you go to the lake without me but with your guests and your stepbrother. Tell them I have a headache or something like that. But before you go you should text to the Polish lady about your problem. I am sure she knows what to do and until the werewolves really meet me, you will have a plan and everybody will think that we are terribly in love. In return, you'll tell me everything tomorrow when you come to my place with a pizza and a big bottle of coke. I want to know everything! You hear me? EVERYTHING! I want to know all about your magic and of course about your crush on your stepbrother...."

"What? I don't have a crush on Derek!" Stiles objected.

"Oh come on, Stiles. Don't deny it. I may not have been in your life for a long time, but I'm not stupid. You don't usually give a shit about what people think of you. Even if Derek is your stepbrother now, you wouldn't give a shit. But you care. A lot! So he must mean something to you. And as much as you avoid talking about him, it's clear you secretly have a crush on him," she stated the facts and fuck...!

Heather always saw right through him. She could read him like a book.

"Okay, maybe I have a teeny-tiny crush on him," he confessed with a deep sigh. There was no use in denying it any longer.

"Oh my God! You even admit it! Shit, you're already deep in, aren't you? Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," she said sympathetically.

Somehow it felt good to finally have someone to talk to about it. Stiles was almost looking forward to telling her everything the next day.

"Thanks, Heather," he whispered.

" It's ok. There are worse things than pretending to be your girlfriend, Stiles," she said.

Heather was the best!

"I can't tell you how grateful I am that you're saving my sorry ass!" Stiles thanked her.

"You can thank me for this tomorrow with pizza. I want pineapple and ham on it," she said happily.

" Ew, gross. But okay, that's only fair. See you tomorrow, Heather," he replied.  
Stiles hated pineapple pizza, but she deserved everything she wanted, even pineapple pizza.

"See you tomorrow, Stiles, and have fun at the lake."

Oh fuck, the lake. Stiles had promised to go swimming with the werewolves. And Derek wanted to join them for some mysterious reason. This could only end in a disaster. His stepbrother already looked like a Greek god on bad days. But in swim trunks with a bare torso, he'd be the death of Stiles! Fuck!  
He was so so fucked!  
Why was there no magic to hex away a boner?

After Stiles put the phone aside, he took another deep breath. It was nice that Heather would help him and wanted to pretend to be his girlfriend, but without Olga, it would still be difficult. He could only hope that the druid was willing to help him.  
And... oh fuck! He would also have to tell her the embarrassing truth. But there was no other option. If he would say that he and Heather had broken up, Derek would certainly become suspicious. And by the time he saw Heather and Stiles together for the first time, he would smell that they had never been together.  
Fuck! He was so stupid, so incredibly stupid! Why did he lie?  
Stiles briefly considered suggesting the ointment to Heather and asking her to come to the lake, but he quickly rejected the idea. The ointment would wash off in the water and also the werewolves would for sure wonder why Heather had to hide her scent.  
Thank God the Hales were polite enough never to ask why Stiles had used it. Stiles was sure Derek knew why he needed to hide his scent. His stepbrother had to remember Stiles' constant scent of arousal when they were both still in high school.

A knock at his door ripped Stiles out of his thoughts.

"Come in," he yelled.

It was Talia. Smiling, she entered his room and closed the door behind her.

Hey Stiles. I just wanted to tell you that it's very nice of you to take our guests to the lake. I hope it really wasn't meant to be a date with your girlfriend," Talia said.

"No, no. Heather's not coming anyway. She has a headache. We'll meet tomorrow," Stiles swindled.

How fortunate that he was also able to control his heartbeat. Of course, otherwise, Talia would have known right away that he was lying. For a short moment, he felt bad because he lied to his stepmother, but it was just a harmless lie. In the end, she certainly didn't care who he was dating. Why would she?

"Oh, I'm sorry. I hope she will be all right soon. Are you still planning to go to the lake with the others? You must know it's important for our pack to form alliances. Most packs send their children to other packs for some time to show that they trust the other pack. However, Derek never got along with Jason very well. Those two are like night and day. I had hoped that things would have improved now that they were both adults, but I'm afraid it's even worse. Derek is in a very bad mood today. Maybe it's because his girlfriend broke up with him. I don't know. I assumed he'd be glad you're taking Jason and Camilla to the lake, but he insists on coming with and I really have no idea why. Sometimes Derek really is a closed book to me."

She sighed and sat on the bed with Stiles.  
Paige had broken up with Derek? Stiles knew that this would not change anything about the hopelessness of his love for the werewolf, but still, a warm feeling spread through him.

"I know you're not a werewolf, Stiles. And probably you are not interested in our pack policy, but you would really help me if you were there as a buffer. Jason seems to like you. Maybe he forgets how little he gets along with Derek when he focuses on you. Thank God Laura will arrive in three days, and things will get better. But I'd hate to let Derek go with Jason and his sister alone. I fear it would end in a tragedy," she confessed.

Stiles nodded.  
"Okay, no problem. Really Talia. I don't have anything else to do today anyway since Heather has a headache and Scott is in Europe as you know," Stiles replied and except for the small lie about Heather's headache, his statement was true.  
He really didn't have anything better to do. And he really wouldn't mind going swimming with Jason and Camilla. The only problem was Derek, or rather Derek in swimming trunks.  
Fuck! That was still a big problem!  
But somehow he'd survive. At least he hoped he would.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to edit this part a bit because ChaoticPsyche was right! Stiles was a bit dull in this chapter. But I hope it is better now. Enjoy Derek's view of the bathing scene! ^^

When they arrived at the lake, there was already a lot going on.   
Colourful bath towels and sunbeds adorned the lawn, children splashed happily in the shallow water of the lakeshore and in the small kiosk next to the bathing area people queued up to buy ice cream or something to drink. In short, it was a normal summer's day at the lake, just like Derek used to know it when he was younger.

Jason suggested that they should find a place with shade because Stiles had very pale skin and certainly couldn't lie in the blazing sun for long without getting sunburned and Derek was annoyed that he hadn't thought about it. Like an idiot, he had immediately spread out his towel in the middle of the grass where there was not one spot of shade. Paige was so right. He was an asshole! Far too often he forgot how fragile humans were.   
They found the perfect place under a group of trees where they had sun and shadow.   
Stiles threw his bathing bag on the floor and spread out his towel.

"This place is perfect. There's plenty of shade for me and you badass werewolves can sizzle in the sun as long as you want," he rejoiced.

"I don't sizzle, Stiles. I am not a steak in a pan!" Derek complained.

"Oh God! Don't talk about steaks! I am so hungry!" Stiles cried "Thank God Talia packed a big picnic basket for us."

Derek had to stifle a laugh. Stiles was always hungry. ALWAYS! His mother had often complained that his stepbrother would still eat them out of house and home. According to her, Stiles ate even more than Derek did at his age.

"Don't look at me like that, Derek. You know I am always hungry!" Stiles said and looked offended. 

"I know! But it isn't healthy to jump into cold water with a full stomach. Maybe you should wait a bit." Derek answered with a small smile on his face.

"Yeah, you are right. I should save my appetite for later. First, I need to win a squirting contest against you werewolves. Unfortunately, I forgot my spray gun, but it will also be fun without it," Stiles said and Camilla cheered.

"A squirting contest! Yeah! Let's go into the water!" 

Jason offered to put sunscreen on Stiles' back! And Stiles, of course, gratefully accepted the offer.   
In addition to his guilty conscience because Derek hadn't thought about a place in the shadow, he now had to watch another werewolf touching Stiles. Fuck his life! 

It was no secret that Derek never liked Jason, but at that moment he would have loved to rip the other werewolf's throat out with his bare teeth. How dare the werewolf flirt with Stiles. After all, his stepbrother had a girlfriend! What the hell?

Angrily Derek hid the blue glow of his eyes behind his sunglasses. This wasn't the right place to wolf out, but it was a close call when Stiles offered to return the favour and Jason excepted.

WEREWOLVES DIDN'T GET SUNBURNED! WHY THE FUCK WOULD JASON NEED SUNSCREEN ON HIS FUCKING BACK?

"Oh, this lake is so much bigger than the one near our house. And you can see the mountains from here. This is so cool! Belinda won't believe me that I swam while I saw snow. Belinda is my best friend. She is like you, Stiles. She is human and she is the nicest person in the world. Can you believe she gave me a neckless with her name as a gift before we got here? Look. Isn't it beautiful?" Camilla declared enthusiastically.

She proudly showed Stiles the necklace.

"Oh yes, that's a very lovely present. You might want to get the necklace to safety before we go in the water, Camilla. It would be a shame if you lost it," Stiles advised while he wiped his sunscreen covered hands on the towel.

How Stiles was able to put on a straight face was beyond Derek, but he had to admit that Stiles was good with kids. The girl kept babbling on. About her friends, her home, her horses, her rabbits. Rabbits? Which werewolf let his child have rabbits as pets? That was absurd. Derek seriously wondered why his mother was so keen on an alliance with the Dorn Pack. He was sure that there had to be better ways of forming alliances. 

At least Talia wouldn't be able to set Stiles up with Jason because Stiles had a girlfriend now. But this was only a small satisfaction because Derek's inner wolf didn't like the idea of Stiles being physically close to someone else at all.  
  
"Did you bring a beach ball, Stiles? At home we always play with Mom and Dad," Camilla chatted and Derek rolled his eyes. 

How the hell did that annoying little girl manage to change her clothes so quickly while talking non-stop? Full of expectation, she now stood there in her pink swimsuit, waiting for Stiles to answer. 

"Of course I did! You and I are gonna show your brother how to win a beachball game, aren't we? However, first I have to win a squirting contest against you guys," Stiles said with a stern face.

Of course, she cheered as if Stiles just had promised to buy her a pink unicorn. Kids were so weird!

"Excuse me. My sister can't stop talking when she's amazed," Jason explained apologetically but Stiles waved him off immediately. 

"Don't worry, I know the problem all too well. Because of my ADHD, I am often not able to keep my mouth shut. Although it certainly annoys some people, I can't help it," Stiles explained with a laugh, looking at Derek.

Fuck! Had Stiles noticed that Camilla was getting on his nerves?   
Yes, it was true, she did! So what? Derek had not enough patience for children. But this was different. She was just a boring kid who talked about boring stuff. Stiles never get on his nerves like that! How would he? They barely even talked. Although, Stiles had been annoying when they still were in High School. Not because he talked too much. No, it was because of his scent. If Derek was honest, he didn't even know why it had bothered him so much. 

Stiles smelled. . . pleasant. . . more than pleasant, tempting even. All he knew was that Stiles had always been the first thing he noticed when he entered the school building. Once or twice he had even smelled Stiles in the mall. In the mall! Thousands of people must have been there, and all he smelled was Stiles. It was crazy! No wonder Derek was frustrated back then. But not as frustrated as he was when Stiles had masked his scent with the ointment. That was very unsettling. Very unsettling!

Sighing, he took off his T-shirt, he already had his swimming trunks on. He tried to block out the constant chatter of the girl as he made himself comfortable with his book on the towel. At least he pretended to be engrossed in his book. In reality, he took advantage of the fact that because of the sunglasses no one could see where he was looking. This gave him the opportunity to secretly observe Stiles. 

The boy had changed amazingly. His pale skin was covered with moles, his upper body was not as muscular as Derek's or Jason's, but he looked lean and defined. Just below his belly button, the dark hair of his happy trail led beyond the hem of his swim trunks and fuck. . .

Maybe it was a bad idea to look at Stiles so blatantly in public. But when had Stiles changed from an annoying little shit who Derek smelled everywhere to someone he definitely was attracted to. 

Goddammit! This was bad! Very bad! Stiles was his stepbrother, he had a fucking girlfriend and Talia wanted to set him up with Jason! Not the best conditions to be attracted to someone!

Derek quickly turned onto his stomach. Fortunately, the others were too busy with themselves and hadn't noticed how much Derek liked what he saw. Shit! When did Stiles become so fucking good-looking? 

"Hey Sourwolf. We're going for a swim now. Do you want to join us?" Stiles wanted to know, and Derek cursed inside. 

Due to his... situation, he had to stay on his stomach while Stiles was having fun with Jason. Fuck! 

"No. I'll stay here and read my book," he murmured apparently disinterested. 

He could at least pretend not to care. This was one of the lowest points in his life so far. He was a twenty-two-year-old werewolf whose girlfriend had just broken up with him. But instead of being sad or angry about it, he was lying on his stomach to hide his boner for his stepbrother.   
Jesus Christ! He was so pathetic! 

Stiles looked at him. Was this disappointment in his eyes? No, Derek had to be wrong, because after a few moments Stiles just shrugged and turned around.

"Okay, suit yourself!" he said and Derek was annoyed that the boy just turned around and walked away with the others without even trying to persuade him to come along. 

Derek didn't even bother to concentrate on his book. Angry with himself, he just pretended to doze. In reality, he was listening to Stiles and the two werewolves.   
Camilla was talking to Stiles most of the time. Jason didn't say very much, but he seemed to have fun anyway. Derek heard all three of them laughing the whole time and Derek hated it.  
The realization that he wanted to be the one to make Stiles laugh hit him completely unprepared. Huh? When did this happen? 

"Stiles, can't you visit us this summer? I could show you our sheep and our horses. I have my own horse. Rosalie. She is all mine and I am responsible for her. Except, of course, now that I'm gone, she'll be looked after by Mom and Dad. You also have to meet Husky our dog. He is actually a German Shepherd and not a Husky, but we call him Husky. And you have to meet Lilly our cat. She never comes near us, but she catches mice in the barn, and of course you have to. . . "

"Oh, my God, Camilla. Let Stiles take a breath." Jason interrupted his sister's rant and Derek could only agree with him. 

Where the hell did that girl get the energy to talk so much? 

"But basically, my sister is right. It would be really nice if you could come and visit us. The summer has just begun," Jason said and Derek wasn't able to suppress a growl. 

What the hell? Stiles had a girlfriend! He certainly wouldn't want to leave Beacon Hills for long! 

"We'll see. Maybe. This could be fun. It sounds like you have a farm and I love animals," replied Stiles and of course Camilla shrieked out loud.

"Yes! Stiles will visit us. This will be so awesome! I will show you all the amazing spots around the farm and you have to meet my best friend..."

What? Was Stiles serious? He would want to visit the Dorns?   
In the meantime, the three of them came out of the water and stretched out next to Derek on their towels. 

"You really want to go to Texas to the Dorn farm? Don't you have a girlfriend here, Stiles?" Derek wanted to know. 

"Ah, you were eavesdropping. I thought you were asleep, big guy. But I don't think Heather has a problem with me being away for a week or two," Stiles explained, his expression unreadable. 

"She should," Derek growled quietly. 

Jason looked at him and raised an eyebrow in surprise. Derek knew that the other werewolf saw through him. Heck, the other werewolf must have smelled his arousal the whole time. But even without any particular sense of smell, it had to be obvious that Derek was jealous - of Heather and of Jason. He was even jealous of Camilla because the girl pulled so much of Stiles' attention. Jason looked from Stiles to Camilla and then back to Derek. Then he laughed out loud and did not stop for a long time.   
Asshole!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am really sorry this update took so long but work was really busy. But here we go. I hope you like it!

With a relieved sigh, Stiles sat down on Heather's bed. It felt good not to be surrounded by werewolves for once. At least for a few hours, he didn't have to pay attention to control his heartbeat and hide his feelings or his scent. Only now did he realize how exhausting this actually was. 

After somehow surviving the previous afternoon at the lake without making a complete fool of himself in front of Derek, he decided to spend this afternoon with Heather. To Stiles' astonishment, Jason had been disappointed when he heard about it. 

"But I hope at least in the evening at the barbecue you won't leave me alone with Derek and the rest of the Hales," Jason had said, looking at him pleading. 

Wow! Why should anybody like him more than the perfect Hales? Okay, maybe Derek seemed a bit grumpy and Talia was frightening at first glance but Stiles was loud and he talked too much and he had the questionable talent of stumbling over his own feet several times a day. And above all, he wasn't a werewolf.

"So you'd rather spend your evening with a boring human like me than with a sexy werewolf?" Stiles had joked without thinking about what he was actually saying.

Jason had smiled at him. 

"Sexy werewolf, huh? Does your girlfriend know that you think Derek is sexy?" Jason had asked, smirking at him knowingly and Stiles had blushed like a tomato. 

"Believe me, Stiles, you're many things, but you're certainly not boring," Jason had said, patting him on the back. "And don't worry. Your secret is safe with me." 

Oh, God! His heart immediately started beating faster when he thought about this conversation with Jason the day before. Shit! Sometimes his mouth was faster than his brain. Nervously he scratched his head.   
Even if he had been able to hide his scent, it would be hard to keep up the charade with Heather. Stiles was sure that Jason would see through the lie quickly. Fuck! This was bad, really, really bad!

Stiles shook his head to chase away the memories of the last 24 hours. 

"Oh, God, I am so curious. Now tell me everything!" Heather urged him impatiently. 

"It was horrible. Even worse than I thought," Stiles moaned and let himself fall back onto Heather's bed. 

"I want to know everything. Leave nothing out!" 

He could tell that Heather enjoyed torturing him a lot.

"You sound way too excited about my suffering, Heather. That's not very nice," he complained, but she just laughed. 

"I'm your fake girlfriend. I have every right to torture you. At least with stories about your crush,' she laughed. 

Stiles sighed. It was best if he got it over with quickly and told her everything. She wouldn't give up until she squeezed all the information out of him anyway.

"Derek is unfairly attractive and seeing him in swim trunks was almost too much. Luckily Camilla distracted me with her constant babbling. I'm so grateful she was with us. I really owe her," Stiles explained. 

And really, Stiles never would've survived the afternoon without the little werewolf girl. Seeing Derek in swim trunks was far worse than he had thought. Of course he had known that the werewolf was well-built.  
The t-shirts and shirts his stepbrother always wore were tight enough that Stiles knew how damn attractive Derek was. Thank you very much! The absurd thing was that Stiles had been pining for Derek even before the werewolf looked like this.   
Stiles was even in lo. . . was even crushing on the other boy when his ears were too big and others were making fun of his bunny teeth. But all those abs and arm muscles didn't make it any easier. 

Derek looked like a fucking greek god now! 

Stiles relied on the werewolf at least acting like an asshole,like he normally did. Then Stiles could have focused on his shitty personality and tell himself Derek wasn't worth it. (It never worked but he could try)

But Derek didn't even allow him to do that, because although it was obvious that Camilla annoyed the werewolf to no end, he took her to get ice cream when Stiles and Jason didn't want to.   
Okay, he claimed that he did it just because she wouldn't stop whining till she would get it but anyway...   
Derek took her to the small kiosk and bought her fucking ice cream!

Later Derek even volunteered to play beach ball with her when Stiles fell asleep on his bath towel. Jason told him, that Derek did it with a big eye roll, but Stiles knew better. Behind all this grumpy behaviour, Derek was a big softy! And that made it even harder. 

With a deep sigh, Stiles decided it really was time to talk to someone about this whole unrequired crush thing before he would burst. And so he told Heather everything. From the day he first met Derek, to the magic lessons with Olga. And of course he told Heather everything about the afternoon at the lake. 

"And what about Jason?" Heather wanted to know after he was done. 

"What about him?" Stiles wanted to know.

"Isn't he attractive too?"

Stiles shrugged. Of course Jason was well-built, but otherwise? 

"Honestly, I have no idea. He is good looking, I guess and he is very nice. I can imagine being friends with him, but nothing more," Stiles answered honestly.

However, Stiles suspected that Derek was attracted to the other werewolf. Even if at first glance the two didn't get along well. Stiles was sure that Jason was the reason why Derek had been laying on his stomach most of the time. Derek was attracted to Jason and had tried to hide it. 

He was also sure that Jason had noticed because Stiles caught the blond werewolf several times looking at Derek in amusement. Stiles hadn't known until the afternoon at the beach that Derek was also interested in boys, but it was clear that in such a case, he would choose someone equally perfect like Jason.  
The two werewolves would make an incredibly attractive couple. Both were about the same height and similarly well built. Derek completely impersonal and almost dangerous looking, while Jason looked like a blond, friendly angel. Too bad Stiles seemed more into the first option. 

He wondered if this was what Talia had planned all along.  
Maybe she wanted to set up Derek with Jason. That would make sense. There was no better way to strengthen an alliance. That was probably the reason why Peter had been so pleased that Derek and his girlfriend had broken up. At dinner, the day before, he had emphasized a few times how rarely a connection between humans and werewolves worked out well. Talia and her first husband apparently were an exception. 

Stiles tried not to let on how sad this statement made him. Even though it was ridiculous. He knew he'd never have a chance with Derek. But to hear that it would have been doomed to failure even if he had a chance, hurt more than he cared to admit.   
Even though a small persistent voice in the back of his head kept pointing out that he wasn't human. But that didn't really make a difference. Stiles wasn't a werewolf and unlike his father, he didn't want to get bitten.

"I think you're so in love that you don't recognize other good-looking people, Stiles," Heather laughed. 

Stiles knew he was blushing. Yeah, she might have a point there. It was mot even funny any more.

"When can we go to your place? Did your Polish druid friend call yet?" Heather wanted to know. 

"Yeah. She called last night. She almost laughed her ass off when I told her what I need and why," Stiles said. 

"Can you blame her?" Heather laughed.

"No, I guess not," Stiles answered shaking his head.   
"But at least the spell is quite simple. So you can come to my home anytime. Maybe you could even come tonight. Talia is planning a small barbecue. It would be amazing if you could come. I'm sure it would be ok for Talia since there will be some neighbours too," Stiles explained. 

"Of course I will come! After all, I am your girlfriend now. Oh, this is gonna be so much fun!" she exclaimed and rubbed her hands. "When does it start?"

Stiles looked at the clock on his phone. 

"In two hours," he replied. 

"All right, I'll kick you out now. You go prepare your magic stuff so we smell crazy in love and I'll make myself pretty to convince everyone what a great girlfriend you have," she ordered and hurried to her closet to find the perfect outfit. "Oh, and please make a little effort with your looks."

"What is that supposed to mean," Stiles replied indignantly. 

"Maybe don't wear your baggy jeans and one of your ripped T-shirt," she answered seriously. "After all, I want to show off my new hot boyfriend."

"You've always been crazy," Stiles muttered shaking his head. 

"Just do as I say," she said ina firm tone of voice.

"Okay, okay," Stiles murmured and shook his head. "You are crazy if you think that the right clothes would make me hot but thanks anyway. You are the best fake girlfriend one could have. I really missed you," Stiles said and hugged her. 

"You are an idiot. Of course you are hot! Even if you wear these baggy monster of jeans of yours, Stiles. And I missed you too! When I came back here, I was afraid the summer would be boring. I had no idea if you'd even be in town, and I don't know anybody else any more. But as it turned out, my worries were completely in vain. You make my summer interesting. Just like before," she replied and kissed him on the cheek.


	13. Chapter 13

"Peter! You're coming to the barbecue tonight, aren't you?" Talia asked.

As always regarding important family matters, she wanted everyone to be there. And even if a barbecue was only a nice get-together, Peter knew exactly that there was more to it. It was another attempt to make the stay of the Dorn children as enjoyable as possible. 

"Of course I will," he promised. "I certainly don't want to miss all the fun!"

It was funny to see how his sister did everything in her power to tie the Dorn children to the pack so that there would be an alliance.   
Besides, it was another opportunity to observe the interactions between Derek and Stiles and perhaps even to fan the flames a little bit.  
  
"Fun? This is rather exhausting! There is still so much to prepare. But the more comfortable Jason and Camilla feel while they are here, the more likely we will get this alliance," she explained looking completely stressed out. 

"Why is this stupid alliance so important anyway? So far, we have managed quite well without them. Don't get me wrong. I'm aware that alliances are always good, but is there a special occasion right now that you're so keen on it, Talia?" Peter wanted to know. 

He had the feeling that Talia was worried for a few weeks now. Talia let out a deep sigh and sat down at the kitchen table. 

"The Alpha Pack is back" she stated, looking at him. 

Oh, fuck! Peter hadn't expected that. A whole pack full of Alphas in their neighbourhood was never good news, but this pack around Deucalion was particularly bad news. 

"What? Shit! How long have they been back?" Peter wanted to know.

Peter didn't expect it to be that bad. They would really need help. 

"I met Deucalion by chance two weeks ago and he threatened me. He said we should say goodbye to our land because they're going to take it away from us. We need all the support we can get," she said with a resigned tone of voice. 

Now everything made sense. That was the reason why she tried so hard. She wanted to save the pack! 

"Damn, I was hoping Jason would fall in love with Stiles. If he had noticed that we were threatened, maybe he would have persuaded his father to help us," She revealed unhappy. "I know this is a low blow.,"

She let out a frustrated groan and drove her hands through her hair.

"The plan wasn't that bad, but unfortunately, it didn't work out," Peter answered.

"No it didn't. Stiles has a girlfriend. Goddamnit! We can't fight the Alpha pack without help, Peter. I don't know what to do," she grumbled quietly. 

There had been few occasions where Peter had seen his sister so devastated. Most of the time she was still strong, where others would have given up long ago. It was time to tell her all about her stepson's power to cheer her up a bit. 

"Maybe we don't need help from another pack. Maybe we have enough potential in our own pack," Peter announced mysteriously. 

She looked at him suspiciously. 

"What do you mean? Peter, please, this isn't the time for cryptic hints. I'm really at a loss."

"What if I told you there's more to Stiles than you can see at first glance, and he's the key to everything. And not because you set him up," Peter wanted to know. 

„Stiles?“

Peter nodded.  
"Yeah, Stiles."

"Don't get me wrong. Stiles is a good boy, but he's definitely not a fighter, and John would kill me if I put him in danger. Besides, Stiles would certainly do anything to protect his father, but he doesn't even see us as his pack. Sometimes I'm not even sure if he sees us as his family," Talia replied unhappily. 

"Yeah, sadly you are right. Stiles doesn't see us as his pack, and that's part of the problem. Listen, what I'm about to tell you must at least, for now, stay between us. Not only because it would certainly scare Stiles, but also because it would put him in danger if the wrong people knew. 

"What do you mean?"

Alarmed, she looked at him. 

"Stile's mother was an Emissary of the Voch Dynasty and as Olga sees it, the boy is one of the most powerful Druids," Peter calmly explained. 

"Olga? Olga Wiśniewska? I don't understand. What has the druid got to do with it? Doesn't she live somewhere in Europe?” Talia asked confused

“Yeah, she lives in Poland. Stiles is practising his magical skills with her via skype. He refused to train with Deaton. And let's be honest. Deaton isn't good enough to teach the boy anything. He is a decent druid but certainly nothing out of the ordinary. Even without any training, Stiles has more magical abilities. The boy magically hides his scent, but only to the extent that we can't read his feelings or sense his true power, ”Peter continued.

"What? Why should he hide his scent? And fuck, he would have to train years for something like that. This isn't possible!" she objected.

Peter knew that she didn't believe a word.

"Yes it is possible and I suspect he's hiding his scent because of Derek."

"Because of Derek? Damn it, Peter. You make less sense today than usual,” she complained, shaking her head. 

"I am positive that Stiles and Derek are true mates, Talia. But they don't know. Since Stiles hides his scent, Derek can't smell the third component and Derek had a girlfriend, so Stiles won't expect anything like that. ”

"As much as I would like to believe that, Peter. But how would you know if they don't?” Talia replied warily.

"Let's say I have my sources," he said with a mysterious smile on his face.

"Damn it, Peter, that would be our salvation! But Stiles has a girlfriend. Shouldn't he already be hopelessly in love with his true mate, if all of this was true?” his sister interjected.

"Yes, and that's the best thing about it. Stiles is already in love with Derek. Heather may be a good friend, but she is not his girlfriend. Stiles told Olga everything because he needed her help. He wanted to make it look like he and this girl are together so no one would notice that Stiles is love with Derek. Apparently Stiles fears that Derek can smell his attraction. He is embarrassed about his feelings for your son."

Peter looked at his sister with a victorious smile.

"Oh my God! So Stiles really hides his scent because of Derek! ”she whispered in awe. "I never noticed anything!"

“Unfortunately, that's not the only reason. Stiles also hides his scent from you and the sheriff."

"Why should he do that?"

“Because he doesn't want to let his father know how unhappy he is here, in his new home, with this new family," Peter revealed the hurtful truth. 

"What? But why?" Talia asked. The shock was written all over her face. 

"He is the only one who is not a werewolf and he feels like an outsider. At least that's what he told Olga. He can't smell how we feel, he always has to stay behind on full moon nights ... "

"Oh God! How could I be so stupid? The poor boy. Of course, the boy had to feel like an outsider. We never paid attention to how he felt about all of our werewolf habits.” Talia murmured.

Peter nodded. Yes, it was true. Talia was too busy with her new life, and so was the Sherif. And since no one noticed something was off, nobody had paid attention to it. He knew his sister would take care of this problem from now on, but they had more important things to do at the moment. Now they had to get Stiles and Derek to realize that they were true mates. And since Peter knew how stubborn they were, this wouldn't get easy. 


	14. Chapter 14

"Would you please help Stiles to bring the stuff into the garden? The guests will be there in about an hour and I still have to prepare the salads," Talia said and pressed a pile of plates into Derek's hand. Jason and Camilla were nowhere to be seen. Derek suspected they were in their rooms. So he would have to prepare everything for the barbecue with Stiles alone. Just perfect!

"Why always me?" he murmured grumpily.

"And I expect you to be in a better mood tonight. I know your girlfriend just broke up with you, but it wouldn't hurt you to smile from time to time. And be nice to Stiles!"; she said and turned around to leave the kitchen.

What the hell? He was never _not_ nice to Stiles!

"And avoiding him isn't being nice, Derek! You can only be nice to someone if you actively interact with them. And talk with your mouth, not with your eyebrows!" his mother said before she left the room.

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK WAS THAT ABOUT? He did interact with Stiles and he hadn't avoided him. He was at the lake with him only yesterday! And he talked to his stepbrother! NICELY! At least he tried. The teenager often managed to strain his patience, but that wasn't Derek's fault. Stiles was annoying sometimes. But even before he could finish the last thought, he realized that it wasn't true. If he was honest, Stiles wasn't that annoying any more. He was... he was kind of charming.

Derek shook his head. This wasn't the time to think about Stiles merits. For a short moment, he also wondered why his mother only talked about Stiles. Why she reminded him to be nice to Stiles and not to Jason or Camilla? This was a bit strange as she was so keen to ally with the dorm pack. So his behaviour towards Jason and Camilla must be much more important to her. Sometimes he just didn't understand his mother.

With a deep sigh, Derek took the plates outside. Stiles was just about to spread the red checkered tablecloth over the long table and looked like he was about to knot his arms in the process. The boy had not yet changed but worked in sweatpants and a worn-out T-shirt in front of him. His stepbrother in sweatpants wasn't supposed to be as attractive as it was, but damn Stiles had a nice ass.

"Please place the plates over there and can you also bring cutlery and glasses? I'm taking care of chairs meanwhile," Stiles said when he noticed Derek.

The boy still hadn't managed to spread the tablecloth over the entire length of the table. Awkwardly he tried again and again. Derek just nodded and went back into the house to take the required things outside.

When he returned outside, Stiles had finally managed to set the table and Derek wondered, not for the first time if the boy was perhaps less clumsy when no one was watching.

After they finished the table, they were silently hanging up the colourful lanterns that his mother had insisted on.

After a short while, Derek couldn't stand the silence between them any longer. He had nothing against silence. On the contrary! Derek was a big fan of silence. But with Stiles, it didn't feel right. The boy was actually famous for his endless rants about the most absurd things. Only when Derek was nearby the boy usually was silent. It seemed almost like Stiles was uncomfortable in Derek's presence and his inner wolf didn't like the idea at all.

"Is your girlfriend coming too?" Derek wanted to know to start a conversation.

The boy blushed and looked down. His inner wolf whined because Derek could already guess the answer. The thought that Stiles had a girlfriend didn't appeal to either the wolf or Derek. But it was none of his business. Stiles could do whatever he wanted.

"Yes, I invited Heather. I hope that's okay," he replied shyly.

Derek shrugged his shoulders.

No, it wasn't! He really didn't want to see them together. It was bad enough when he had to watch Jason with Stiles. But the idea of Stiles holding hands with his girlfriend or kissing her, not to mention how their scents would mix. . .

Derek had to muster all the willpower, not to shift in front of Stiles then and there. Fuck! What's been wrong with him lately?

"Yeah, of course it's ok! After all, she's your girlfriend. Paige attended family celebrations too, she was here for Christmas as you know," Derek answered and swallowed down the big lump in his throat.

"True," the boy said, a frown was forming on his forehead, just like he didn't like the memory.

But of course, this was just wishful thinking. Why should Stiles care?

"And today there is not only our family anyway," Derek went on.

"Yeah, I know. Jason and Camilla will be there and some of Dad's deputies as well as the Walkers and even the Argents. Peter mentioned that even the creepy grandfather of the Argents will be at the barbeque," Stiles said.

"Gerald's coming? Oh, God, no! I can't stand the old man. I always thought he hated werewolves. Why would he visit us for a barbecue? That's absurd," Derek replied thoughtfully.

He could still remember meeting the old man once when he was shopping with his father and Laura. Derek had been a child at the time and he still felt the hateful looks of the man on him.

_"It's not too late for you, Jeff! You can still leave these monsters and live a normal life. Your father was one of my best friends. It pains me that his only son lives with one of them. We should stay among our own kind, boy. It's not good if we mix with them. Please come to your senses, Jeff! You are human and they are monsters!" Gerald had said to Derek's father._

Derek remembered every single word. This was the first time someone called him a monster. The idea that someone wanted his dad to leave his wife and children because they were werewolves, really did something to his young soul.

His dad didn't even reply. He grabbed Laura and Derek and just left. So why would a man like Gerald Argent attend a barbeque in a werewolf home? It just didn't make any sense.

"I have no idea," Stiles replied. "All I know is that the man creeps me out. A few days ago, he approached me at the grocery shop. He said he would set me free soon. It was so weird!"

Derek could do nothing about a cold shudder running down his spine.

_***_

About two hours later, Derek stood in a corner and almost couldn't calm down his wolf. The thought of Gerald Argent had faded into the back of his mind. But the fact that the terribly sweet smell of Stile's girlfriend, who polluted the evening air, was all the more present. Derek almost suffocated from the heavy, stained smell. They smelled so happy and in love, it was nauseating.

He needed to get laid! Like yesterday! There was no other explanation why he didn't get Stiles out of his head. At the moment he was standing a little away from the other guests and watched his stepbrother. Stiles looked stunning. No wonder everyone liked him so much, Jason, deputy Parrish and of course Stiles girlfriend Heather. All of them swirled around Stiles like bees round a honeypot. And Derek really got it. It wasn't just Stiles look and the damn tight dark blue jeans in combination with the dark red button-down, it was mainly of his charm. Stiles smile was radiant and he smelled happy. Happy and in love.

And Derek hated it!

Goddammit, he hated it so much!

It was stupid, Derek knew that, but there was nothing he could do about it. He hated that he wasn't the reason Stiles was happy.

A few years ago, everything would have been different. Stiles would have laid at Derek's feet if Derek had only looked in his direction.

He had smelled it when they were both in high school. Of course, Derek knew it was just a hormonal teenage phase. After all, Stiles didn't really know him. It was just sexual attraction.

Derek had a mirror, he knew what he looked like. And he also knew that Stiles was no longer attracted to him because the boy always smelled completely unaffected in Derek's presence.

However, Stiles now had a girlfriend. It wasn't surprising that Stiles didn't notice anyone else. It was a miracle that they could even keep their hands off each other. Derek's inner wolf went crazy seeing and smelling Stiles with his girlfriend.

"Hello, neighbour!" a female voice suddenly greeted him.

It was Kate Argent. The Argents weren't their direct neighbours, but Peter and Chris were friends and Derek suspected that was the reason why Kate was here. He still didn't understand why Gerald had come, though. But the old man was standing near the grill talking to the Sherif. Almost as if he had nothing against werewolves. But Derek smelled his dislike despite his friendly smile. But Derek didn't feel like thinking about Gerald Argent's motives for a neighbourhood visit at the moment. He preferred to deal with Gerald's beautiful daughter to distract himself from his confusing feelings towards Stiles.

Maybe that was exactly what he needed now. A good-looking distraction. Kate Argent was a lot older than him, but she was very attractive. Why shouldn't he have a little fun?


	15. Chapter 15

Actually, everything went pretty well. Everyone seemed to believe that Heather was his girlfriend. Especially Derek didn't seem to doubt it. As it slowly got darker outside, the lanterns provided a beautiful atmosphere. It was a perfect evening and everyone seemed to have fun.   
Even Chris Agent's crazy father appeared to be having a good time. Heather got on particularly well with Deputy Parrish. Maybe Stiles and she would have to end their fake relationship soon. Stiles had the feeling that something could develop between the two. That was good. Parrish was a nice guy and Heather and he would be a good match. Stiles decided to ask her about it if they were alone and in a soundproofed room. In the presence of werewolves, this was the only way to talk about secrets. 

"Hey, Stiles. Have you seen Derek?" Talia wanted to know. 

Stiles hadn't even noticed that she had come closer. Werewolves really had the talent to sneak on people, that much was certain. 

"No, sorry. The last time I saw him, he was nearby the house with Kate Argent," Stiles answered. 

Talia cursed and Stiles preferred not to think about what it meant that Derek had disappeared with Kate Argent. However, he could imagine why Talia was so angry. It was no secret that she wanted an alliance with the Dorn Pack and if Stiles wasn't completely wrong, then Derek would play a big role in it. Stiles had something against arranged relationships and so he could understand that Derek didn't want to. So Stiles would imagine what Derek and Kate Argent were doing. . .

Fuck! Stiles suddenly had trouble breathing and he felt nauseous. Goddammit! He was so stupid!   
Of course, Derek would have more girlfriends or one night stands now that he wasn't with Paige anymore. What did Stiles expect? That he would live like a monk for the rest of his life? That was more than ridiculous. 

"Hey, Stiles. Is everything all right? You look a bit pale," Heather wanted to know worry written all over her face. 

She had, of course, immediately realized that something was wrong with him. But he couldn't tell her the truth here among all the werewolves. 

"Can we go inside for a minute?" he asked, therefore. 

"Yes, of course. Come on!" she answered, and dragged him into the house behind her.

As they were about to go upstairs, Derek and Kate were just about to come down. Both were quite ruffled and Kate just closed the top button of her blouse. It was clear with what she and Derek had just passed the time. Stiles had to muster all his strength to not let anything show on his face, but inside it felt a little bit like dying. Derek's shocked and guilty look didn't make it any better. Kate grinned at him amused. 

"Ah, the Sherif's kid! And this must be your little girlfriend. I'm glad you found someone who's like you," she said, and even though her words were kind, there was something about her that scared him. 

He couldn't figure out why Derek had to get involved with her. The woman was certainly already in her mid-thirties. Admittedly, she looked good, but there was something dangerous about her. 

When Stiles and Heather finally arrived in his room, Stiles couldn't hold back the tears any longer. He knew it was stupid but ...  
Heather just hugged him. 

"Hey, It's ok. I've got you!" she said and rubbed his back to calm him down a bit. 

Stiles had no idea why he just couldn't get over Derek. He had always known he didn't stand a chance. Why couldn't he finally forget about the werewolf? This was just insane. And because of all this Emissary stuff, he even couldn't leave Beacon Hills for college as he intended.   
Fuck! Why had his life be so complicated? 

"I just don't understand why I care so much. It's none of my business. He can have sex with whoever he wants!" Stiles sniffed. 

"You can't command feelings, Stiles. Eventually, you'll fall in love with someone else," she assured him. 

Stiles nodded, although he doubted that she was right. For some reason, his heart wanted Derek Hale, and that would certainly not change so quickly. 

"Hey, Why don't you sleep at my house tonight? Knowing you, you can't relax even in your own room, can you. I'm sure you're still hiding your scent, am I right?" 

Stiles nodded. Although they hadn't seen each other for so long, Heather knew him quite well. 

"Yes, the smell would stay in the room for too long. If someone came in here, they would smell my feelings, even if a few days have passed. And I honestly don't want that," Stiles explained.

"Come on, I've got a big box of ice cream in my fridge, and I'm sure we'll find something on Netflix," she suggested and Stiles was grateful for the possibility to get away for one night. 

Heather was the best!   
Quickly, Stiles packed up a few things for the night and washed his face. Otherwise, every werewolf nearby would smell his tears.   
By the time they arrived downstairs, most of the guests had already left. Jason helped Talia to clean up, Stiles's dad was still talking to Gerald Argent and Camilla must have gone to bed already. Luckily, Derek and Kate were nowhere to be seen. Stiles immediately went to his dad and informed him that he was staying at Heather's for the night. The Sherif nodded.  
"All right. Take care, son!" he said and waved him goodbye. 

"Good decision boy" Mr. Argent suddenly said. 

Stile's father frowned and Stiles had the unpleasant feeling that the old man wanted to say something to him with the statement. But what? However even before Stiles could continue to wonder about it, Derek and Kate entered the garden and he just wanted to leave. 

"Good night!" he said to his dad and Mr.Argent and than he hurried with Heather to the parking lot without looking back.

***

Half an hour later they sat comfortably in Heather's bed, both already in their pyjamas and each had a large bowl of Ben and Jerry's in their hands. The laptop was situated on a pillow between them. They watched 'The Good Doctor', one of Heather's favourite shows. Stiles didn't care what they were watching. He was grateful for every distraction he could get.

Eventually, however, Heather got tired and they prepared to go to sleep. After brushing his teeth Stiles tried to get comfortable on the mattress on the floor. But it took forever for him to finally fall asleep. 

But at some point, he must have been successful because when he suddenly woke up startled, it was the middle of the night. He had a terrible feeling that something bad had happened. And he knew he had to head home as soon as possible. Still in his pyjamas, he fished his car keys out of his jeans and sneaked out of the house. Luckily, he had come with his own car and thank God the engine started immediately. Roscoe tended to bitch a little when Stiles was in a hurry. But as if the car understood the urgency, it ran perfectly. The feeling in him got more urgent with each passing minute, so he drove as fast as he could. He didn't care if he got a ticket, he knew instinctively that every second would count to prevent something terrible.


	16. Chapter 16

Kate was almost lying on top of him in his bed. Her blouse was open but she still had her bra on. Her heavy breath showed Derek how turned on she was. But he just couldn't do it. He had assumed that a woman like Kate Argent was exactly what he needed to distract his mind from Stiles and his girlfriend for at least a while. 

But it didn't work! It didn't help at all. On the contrary! Now he felt also guilty!

It was only a matter of time before Kate realized that he wasn't quite as into it as she was and... that there certain bodyparts that were far less interested in all the action than they were supposed to be in such a situation. 

"Somehow I have the impression that you are not quite in the right mood," Kate announced after some time. 

Her voice didn't sound really disappointed, rather... amused?

"Sorry, I think I'm not over the breakup with my last girlfriend," he lied.   
Thank fuck, she was no werewolf, because this had nothing to do with Paige!

"Okay, no problem. Maybe another time," she replied, shrugging. 

Relieved, Derek sat up and drove one hand through his hair. At least she didn't cause a scene! 

"I think I should go anyway. My father must have been harassing the sheriff all night. It's time for the poor man to get his rest," she explained with a smile. 

Derek rose from the bed. 

"I'll walk you out," he stated. 

Kate buttoned the last buttons of her blouse when they met Stiles and his girlfriend.   
Fuck!   
For a brief moment, Derek thought he saw something like pain flashing in Stile's eyes. Of course, the boy could imagine what had happened in Derek's room.   
But this was just wishful thinking! Derek must have imagined the hurt expression on Stile's face because he didn't smell anything out of order.   
  
***

"Isn't Kate Argent a little bit old for you?" Derek's mother wanted to know when he was helping to clean up after the last guests disappeared. 

"Yes, probably, but I don't intend to marry her, so it doesn't matter," he sighed. 

He just wanted to distract himself from Stiles and his girlfriend, but he certainly wouldn't let his mother in on the embarrassing fact that he had a stupid crush on his stepbrother. How ridiculous would this be?

"Where are the Dorns and Stiles?" he asked instead. 

"The Dorns are already in their rooms. Camilla went to bed some time ago. Stiles is sleeping at Heather's tonight," Talia explained and Derek couldn't do anything about the knot that formed in his gut. 

Of course, his mother immediately smelled that something was wrong. 

"Are you all right?"; she asked concerned. 

There was little point in lying to her. Sadly, he shook his head. 

"No, but I don't want to talk about it," he explained truthfully, hoping she wouldn't push to get an answer. 

If she would use her alpha voice he would have no chance but to tell her. 

"Okay, but I'm here if you need someone to talk to, Derek. I know you usually prefer to keep all your worries to yourself, but sometimes it's just good to talk about certain things," she said in a soft voice. 

"Thank you, Mom," he replied and even managed a little smile. 

At that moment, the sheriff entered the kitchen. 

"Jesus, I thought Gerard Argent would never stop grilling me about our magnificent new house. The old man is getting weirder and weirder every day," he moaned. 

Talia laughed. 

"Yes, I noticed your pain. I just didn't feel like rushing to help you," she laughed. 

"Oh, you are an evil woman! I married a heartless monster! You saw how much I was suffering and you didn't help. You'll so regret this when we are upstairs!!" the Sherif answered with mocking indignation. 

Derek somehow didn't have the nerve to listen to their banter any longer.

"I'll call it a night, guys!" he said and quickly headed upstairs. 

But he soon realized that he wouldn't be able to sleep. Everything smelled like Kate Argent. With a deep sigh, he decided to go for a run in the woods. It was always calming to let his wolf run.

***  
  
Derek had no idea how long he had been running through the dark forest when he smelled it: Fire! 

Fuck!   
He didn't even have his cell phone with him to call the fire department. What if it was a forest fire and it came near the house? He was terrified to discover that the smell of smoke actually came from the direction in which their house was located. 

Oh, God nooo! As fast as he could, he ran back. When he got to the house, he couldn't believe his eyes at first. What the fuck!

Kate Argent had a gas canister in her hand and was just emptying out the last drops of the easily combustible liquid. The porch that led around the entire upper floor of the house was already in flames and with a diabolical grin, Kate threw a burning match on the floor, whereupon within a few seconds a ring of fire formed around the lower part of the house as well.

WHAT. THE. ACTUAL. FUCK?

„Noooooooo!“ he screamed only one second after he shifted back into his human form.

“Oh, Derek. What a surprise. And without any clothes. I like it! But as much as I love to see you naked, I was actually hoping you'd be in the house with the other monsters. What a pity. We will have to shoot you and burn you afterwards,” she said upset.

Was she out of her mind? Did she really think he'd watch his family's house burn down? And was she really so naive to think that a bullet would stop him?

„Oh, I know what you are thinking, handsome. You think you're gonna stop me with all your werewolf powers, but haven't you noticed that it's very quiet in your house? No one's trying to escape. And because of the soundproofed rooms, you don't even hear your family's screams when they burn slowly. That's what I call irony!"

Fuck! She was right?   
Why didn't they escape? 

"I'm a bit disappointed that you didn't figure it out on your own. My father and I scattered wolfsbane all over the place. So you can't get inside and they have no chance to get out" she cheered.

Fuck she really enjoyed this. Angrily he rushed towards her with a loud roar, but before he could reach her, he heard a shot and felt that something had hit him in the chest.   
And the wound didn't heal immediately. Oh, fuck! That wasn't good! 

This had to be a fucking wolfsbane bullet. Shit!  
Derek certainly owed it to the shock that he did not feel any pain at first.

"I suppose you'll be able to imagine that this isn't an ordinary bullet, boy," Derek heard someone state and realized it was Gerard Argent. 

The two of them had planned the whole thing together! Maybe Chris was also involved. 

"I have warned your father from the beginning that he shouldn't get involved with monsters. But he never listened to me. And now your stupid mother also dragged the poor sheriff into this. The poor sheriff's kid will be all alone, and that's all your mother's fault. Luckily, the boy is with his human girlfriend tonight. If he comes back tomorrow, there won't be much left of all of you," Gerard explained coldly. 

"Fucking bastard! There's a kid in there, too! She's only twelve" Derek cried. 

"There's no child in there, Derek honey. There are only monsters in the house. And we don't care for monsters," Kate explained.

Why didn't he see that coming? They were insane! It was his fault that his entire family was wiped out. Jesus, he had shown her the house! 

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!   
And Stiles would never know what he meant to him!   
But at least he was safe! Oh, God! Stiles was safe! He wasn't in the house. It was weird that he felt so relieved when all the other members of his family and Derek himself would die but somehow the knowledge that Stiles was safe made it a bit easier.

At that moment, Derek heard the engine of a car and he knew instantly that it was Stiles old Jeep.   
Goddamnit! Why couldn't Stiles do what was expected of him only once? He could have fucking survived this.   
Well, he wouldn't have had a family, but he could have lived.   
Derek doubted that Gerard and Kate would let the boy live. He was a witness now.   
Totally agitated, he came running towards the house. 

"Fuck! The house is on fire! We have to get everyone out! Derek, get up and help me!" he screamed. 

"Oh, you stupid boy! Why didn't you stay with your human friend? I don't like it when humans get hurt. But this is bigger than one little human's life. We have the opportunity to wipe out an entire werewolf pack. I'm sorry, kid, but Derek can't get up. He's got one of my latest designs in his gut. A bullet that is full of wolfsbane and that splits into a thousand pieces as soon as it reaches its destination. The parts are so small that they cannot be removed and as long as there is even the smallest molecule of wolfsbane in his body, he will not heal. So your stepbrother will die very soon," Gerard explained. "And unfortunately, I have to shoot you now," he added, pointing the gun at Stiles. 

"You sick fuck!" Stiles yelled and Gerard pulled the trigger.

Derek heard himself scream and wondered where he got the strength for it. He felt life slowly emerging from his body. The pain was almost unbearable now. For some reason, he didn't hear Stile's body fall to the ground. Wouldn't Stiles have to collapse on the ground if he was shot? But before he could look what had happened the entire night sky lit up purple. And then everything went black.


	17. Chapter 17

Stiles tried to pull his mobile phone out of his pants pocket while he was driving full speed on the dark road. He knew that his father would kill him if he could see him right now. Stiles didn't remember how often the Sheriff told him not to call someone while he was driving. Let alone the fact that he was breaking every speed limit. But fuck it! This was serious!

Desperately he tried to call his father, but the call always went straight to the voice mail. The same happened with Talia and with Derek. Fuck! Why couldn't he reach them?

In his panic, he even tried to call Peter, but he couldn't reach him either.

WHY THE FUCK WEREN'T THEY ANSWERING THEIR PHONES? SHIT!

When he finally turned into the street at the edge of the forest near the house, he saw it: FIRE!

Nooo!

As fast as he could he drove to the house and stormed out of the car. He didn't even stop to close the car door behind him.

He quickly realized that the whole house was on fire. But why were the doors and windows locked? Why the fucking hell didn't anyone try to escape this burning inferno?

There were werewolves in that house. They should have noticed the fire long ago! What the hell was going on here?

And then he saw Derek lying on the ground. Had he been able to escape from the burning house? But why didn't he help the rest of the family? Damn, everyone else had to be still inside! Talia, Camilla, Stiles' father.

Fuck! He couldn't lose his father too! Why didn't Derek do anything?

"Fuck! The house is on fire! We have to get everyone out! Derek, get up and help me!" Stiles screamed.

"Oh, you stupid boy! Why didn't you stay with your human friend? I don't like it when humans get hurt. But this is bigger than one little human's life. We have the opportunity to wipe out an entire werewolf pack. I'm sorry, kid, but Derek can't get up. He's got one of my latest designs in his gut. A bullet that is full of wolfsbane and that splits into a thousand pieces as soon as it reaches its destination. The parts are so small that they cannot be removed and as long as there is even the smallest molecule of wolfsbane in his body, he will not heal. So your stepbrother will die very soon," Gerard explained. "And unfortunately, I have to shoot you now," he added, pointing the gun at Stiles.

What the fuck? Did this fucker lose his mind? Stiles instinctively knew that Gerard would pull the trigger at any moment. He would kill Stiles as relentless as anyone else in the house.

Only now did Stiles notice Kate. Of course she was involved! She had planed this together with her father. Stiles always thought she was creepy. Now he had the certainty that it wasn't just because he was jealous.

The woman was crazy as fuck! And so was her father! And the bitch took advantage of Derek at the barbeque. For sure she only wanted to get pieces of information!

But as it looked, Derek wouldn't have enough time to get angry about it. Stiles realized that the werewolf was dying. He had stopped moving and his breath was more like a wheeze.

Oh God, please noooo!

It was one thing that Derek would never want him, but it was completely unthinkable for Stiles to live in a world where Derek no longer existed! He couldn't let that happen! He just couldn't! Fuck!

Stiles felt rage build up inside of his chest.

"You sick fuck!" Stiles yelled and at the same moment, as Gerard finally pulled the trigger, Stiles magic left his body like a hungry animal with a purple explosion.

Derek called for him and then he fainted. Stiles hoped he only fainted.

"Oh God, please let him just be unconscious," he prayed while he breathlessly watched Gerard and Kate falling to the ground. They were enchained in purple ropes of Stiles' magic.

But he would look after them later. Now he had to free the people inside the burning house. So he ran towards the building and raised his hands. He knew his magic would know what to do here, too.

Suddenly a storm hissed around the house, extinguishing the fire, and then all the windows and doors flew open. Stiles felt how every spark of energy left his body and then everything went black around him.

***

"Stiles! Stiles! Wake up, we need your help!"

Someone poured water on his face. Confused, he shook his head.

„Fuck! What happened?“

"We don't have time for this now! If you don't use your magic, Derek will die!" Peter cried.

Oh, no! Not Derek! Stiles got up so quickly that he became dizzy, but he ignored it and hurried to Derek's motionless body.

He could only hope he wasn't too late. When he knelt next to Derek, he noticed to his relief that the werewolf was still breathing.

"Thank God! He's still alive!" Stiles sobbed.

"Yeah, but he won't survive the next hour. You have to pull the bullet out somehow. I suppose it's soaked with wolfsbane," Peter urged.

"Unfortunately, this won't be easy. Gerard said that his bullets shatter into a thousand pieces when they enter a body, and as long as there's even a small splinter in Derek's body, he can't fucking heal," Stiles explained.

"Can you do that? Please, Stiles, tell me you can save him. Please," Talia begged.

"I will at least try," he answered and immediately got to work.

He spread his hands over Derek's torso and closed his eyes. Then he concentrated on removing the splinters from his body. He knew it would take him a long time to eliminate them all, but he noticed after a short while that it was working. At least it was working. As if drawn by an invisible magnet, his purple magic pulled one splinter after another out of Derek's body.

But after a while, Stiles noticed this incredible exhaustion again and in the next moment, everything turned black for the second time.

Once more he was awakened by a splash of cold water in his face.

"I'm sorry boy, but we're running out of time," Peter apologized.

Stiles nodded and went on. He noticed, however, that his magic became weaker. Peter also seemed to notice it.

"We need something to eat for Stiles! And Coke! He needs sugar and energy! Hurry up!"; he ordered and Talia ran towards the house.

A short time later, Talia reappeared with a big sandwich and a large glass of Coke with a straw. Stiles was sure he gave a strange picture. While he still knelt next to Derek and held his hands over the werewolf's chest, Talia kept holding the straw so that he could drink without taking a break. Peter kept letting him bite off the sandwich from time to time. Thank God, the food helped a bit.

It took hours until Stiles finally managed to get all the splinters out of Derek's body. But he didn't give up. Even though he was so exhausted in between, he thought he couldn't even blink. He also fainted a few more times, but Peter always managed to wake him up quickly.

Stiles was determined to save Derek! He wouldn't let Derek die! Even if he would die of exhaustion himself.

Eventually, a police patrol arrived and the officers took Kate and Gerard with them.

But Stiles didn't pay much attention to anything around him. He was focused on saving Derek.

And then, after three hours, the bullet wound in Derek's chest finally started to heal.

Oh, thank fuck! He made it. He saved Derek! He was shaking all over because he was so relieved.

Stiles had no idea what happened after that, but when he woke up, he was lying in his bed and his father was sitting next to him in a chair.

"Thank God! One more hour and I would have taken you to the hospital. This Polish druid meant that I shouldn't worry, but honestly, it's creepy when someone like you sleeps for over a day," his father explained. "You managed to save us, son! I still don't know what you were doing, but you definitely saved us,"

"Derek!" Stiles cried and sat up abruptly.

"Thanks to you, Derek is fine. He's almost completely healed. But he blames himself for this mess. He thinks that the Argents could only succeed because he showed Kate the house," the Sheriff sighed.

"That's bullshit! Then you're just as much to blame. You've been talking to Gerard about the house all night! But neither of you are to blame! Kate and Gerard must have lost their minds! Goddammit! By a fraction of an inch, I would have lost you, Dad!" Stiles shuddered. "How did they even manage all this? Why weren't you able to escape? And why didn't you get any help? You could have called someone," Stiles wanted to know.

He had so many questions.

"Gerard and Kate have spread wolfsbane all around the house, even on the upper porch, in front of every windowsill. We couldn't get out. I really thought we were going to burn alive. Besides, they planted a jamming device not far from the house. As a result, we had no mobile reception and, of course, no Internet. These two must have planned the whole thing for a long time," the Sheriff explained.

"But why? Just because they hate werewolves? That's insane!" Stiles lamented.

"No, it really doesn't make sense for a normal person. But they're not normal, Stiles," the Sheriff agreed with a soft tone in his voice. "You should change. There'll be food soon."

The Sheriff got up and walked to the door, but turned around just before he left the room.

"Your mother was right, you know. She always said you were the most important resident of Beacon Hills. I always thought she'd only say that because she's your mother, and of course, you're the most important person to her. But I'm starting to wonder if she meant something else, Stiles. You should talk to Olga after dinner. I think she will know more," Stiles' dad explained. "And Stiles... I can't tell you how happy I am that you exist. You are the best thing that ever happened to me. I hope you know that!" the Sheriff added and left the room.

And fuck... Stiles was so touched, tears were burning in his eyes.


	18. Chapter 18

Derek was more than relieved when the pain finally subsided. As a werewolf, he wasn't used to such long suffering, because usually werewolves were healing fast. But wolfsbane was their kryptonite.   
He knew he would have died without Stiles. Derek didn't even know that Stiles was powerful enough to pull so many splinters out of a werewolf. Deaton couldn't have done it, that was for sure. 

Granted, Stiles had fainted several times, but stubborn as the boy was, he did not take a break. He just continued, he fainted again, Peter woke him up with cold water and he went on.... for hours. Until finally all the splinters were removed and Derek began to heal. 

So Derek owed Stiles not only the life of his pack but also his own. Stiles had appeared out of nowhere that night. It was still a miracle why. Why on earth did he leave his girlfriend in the middle of the night to save all their lives? How could the boy have known they were in danger? But whatever it was that made Stiles drive home it had been their salvation. Kate and her father would have wiped out their pack and the Dorne kids.  
  
Like they did with other packs which the Sheriff had found out by now. Luckily, Kate and Gerard wouldn't hurt anyone anymore, because John Stillinski and Peter made sure they would never ever get out of jail again. 

Nevertheless, it was also Derek's fault that it had come to this, even if his mother didn't want to hear about it. But it was a fact that he had been blinded by Kate Argent's interest in him and that he had led her around the house. His only excuse was that he was so confused by his feelings for Stiles that he wasn't able to think clearly. He could only hope that his inner wolf wouldn't have been so blind otherwise.   
Sure, Gerard Argent had also managed to deceive the Sheriff and get important information about the house. But his stepfather wasn't a born werewolf like Derek. His instincts weren't so well developed by now.

John didn't want to hear about this, though. As a Sheriff, he should have been sceptical, too, he said. Especially in Gerard Argent's case.   
But of course, Talia did not want to hear that one of them was to blame. 

A knock on the door tore him out of his heavy thoughts. 

His sister opened the door. Thank God, she only arrived after the incident.

"Hey, Derek, Dinner's ready. It's our last meal together with the Dorns. So Mom says you should come downstairs too if you feel good enough to get up," Laura announced and came into Derek's room. 

Derek sat up and run his hand through his hair. He wasn't very fond of the Dorns but it was a disgrace under what circumstances they ended their stay here. Derek knew how important the alliance would have been to his mother. But of course, he could understand that Jonathan Dorne didn't want to take any risks for his children. And the fact that the hunters almost succeeded in wiping out the Hale pack made them seem weak to other werewolves. Even if it was unfair.

"It's really a shame that Jason and Camilla have to leave. I was looking forward to spending time with them together. But I can understand their father...," Laura sighed.

"Yeah me too. It's not exactly reassuring when you send your children to another pack and they almost burn alive there," Derek replied dryly.

"We're lucky that Deaton had put a protective spell on the house. Even if the spell wasn't strong. But at least he was able to buy us time. There is nearly no damage on the inside of the house, except for the second bathroom, the kitchen and the attic," Laura explained. 

"And the window frames look terrible. But you are right, Deaton's spell bought us time. Without Stiles we would all be dead," Derek agreed and shuddered. 

"I know. I think I hugged him four times today and said thank you. Mom did the same. The poor boy blushes every time," Laura laughed and Derek tried to get rid of the unpleasant feeling that came over him at the thought of Laura hugging Stiles. Jesus! His strange obsession with his stepbrother slowly became ridiculous. 

"Except for Peter, nobody understands why Stiles came home in the middle of the night. Stiles said he had a bad feeling and Peter mentioned he had an idea why. But of course, our uncle wraps himself in cryptic silence about the details. Sometimes he's really a weirdo," Laura recalled thoughtfully. 

"Maybe Stiles had a bad feeling because his father was in danger. The two have a pretty deep connection and Stiles is a Spark. A Spark with purple magic!" Derek considered. "I've never seen purple magic before. I swear, even his eyes shone purple. It was really impressive." 

"I'm just glad I didn't have to watch him get all the pieces out of you, but I'd like to see him use his purple magic," Laura said.

Derek just nodded. It really was a remarkable sight when Stiles was wrapped in his purple magic.

***  
  
"Bon appetite! This dinner is not only the farewell dinner for Jason and Camilla but also in honour of Stiles, who saved us all," Talia announced. 

"Talia, you've all thanked me enough. I'm sure each of you would have done the same for our pack," Stiles replied and Derek could tell he was embarrassed. 

The boy cleared his throat and concentrated on the filled plate in front of him. He looked cute when he blushed and Derek wondered how far down his blush would go and...  
Woahhh there! Where did this thought come from? If he knew what was good for him, Derek should quickly stop thinking about anything that had to do with Stiles and a naked torso. After all, Derek was sitting at the table with werewolves. Jesus!

"I think the reason everyone here smells very happy right now is not just because you saved us, Stiles but also because you called us your pack for the first time," Peter said pleased, and everyone looked at him in surprise.

It was actually rude to talk about scented feelings among werewolves, but Derek understood why Peter had to brake the etiquette. In fact, it was about time someone did!  
Why the heck had he never thought about it himself? Stiles was the only one who couldn't smell their feelings. It had to feel like he was deaf and no one would bother to communicate with him in sign language. 

Dammit! They were all so stupid. No wonder Stiles never felt like a part of their pack. Of course, they had to describe their feelings to him. How else would the boy know what was going on? Werewolves often communicated only via scents. Fuck! 

"That's true Peter," Talia said with a smile, "but John also smells infinitely proud of his son and he has every right to be. You really are something very special, Stiles. And it would really be my biggest wish if you would see yourself as a part of this pack. Not only because you seem to be a powerful magician, but also because we all love you very much," she said and grabbed Stiles hand.

Derek had never seen his mother so emotional.  
Stiles looked at her with wide eyes and Derek realized that he was struggling with tears. Derek would have given a lot to take Stiles hand too but, of course, he couldn't. 

"Thank you, Talia. I am not sure if I feel like I belong to this pack, but I know we are one family. I would never let anything happen to you if I could help it!" Stiles declared and cleared his throat.

Surprisingly though all this emotional encounter his scent didn't change much. That was the moment when Derek realized that Stiles was still masking his scent.   
Goddamn it!   
He must have magically masked it the whole time. Even while he fought off the Argents and while he was busy saving Derek's life.   
What the hell?   
How was that even possible? Not only that Stiles wasn't trained enough to master such a thing but also no magician could accomplish two magical tasks at the same time. At least Derek had never heard of such a thing. Confused, he looked at Stiles and wanted to say something when Camilla blurted out: "None of my friends will believe what a hero Stiles is but when I grow up, I want Stiles to be my mate!" 

Holy fuck!   
Before Derek knew what was happening, he started to growl at the poor little girl. Everybody was staring at him in terror. Everyone except Talia and Peter, who were grinning at each other, and that. . . that was really weird because he would have expected his mother to be furious. After all, she wanted an alliance with the Dorn pack.   
Although. . . after the whole story with the Argents, she could forget about it anyway. 

"I am sorry, Camila, I... I'm still a little. . . jumpy... because of all the burning and werewolf bullets," Derek stuttered. 

He knew it was a lame excuse. Curiously, Jason looked from Derek to Stiles and then to Camilla. 

"Oh, hell, I don't want to leave. It's so exciting with you guys. Even if I could have done without the arson," Jason stated. "But I don't think I can convince Dad to let us stay any longer."

Sighing, he took a sip of his orange juice. 

"And by the way, you can't mate with Stiles. He has a girlfriend as you know," Jason said.

Camilla looked as if she was about to cry and Stiles looked horrified. 

"Camilla I...." he stammered.

"Are you at least coming to visit us, Stiles?" Camilla asked in a whiny voice and Derek had to pull himself together so that he wouldn't growl at her again. 

Camilla was still a kid, for fuck's sake! And Jason was right, Stiles had a girlfriend! Derek had no right or reason to be jealous of Camilla. 

"I'd love to, but unfortunately I can't get out of here right now," Stiles replied and he really sounded like he was sorry. 

"Because of your girlfriend?" Camilla wanted to know.  
  
"No, rather. . . my magic is tied to this place. At least for now. But I promise I will visit you if it's possible for me," Stiles replied.

The girl nodded. 

"Okay," she said and nodded her head. 

Then she smiled at Stiles.

"It's okay if I can't mate you but can we at least be friends?" she wanted to know and she looked so hopeful Derek almost felt sorry for her.

"Of course we can. I think we are already friends!" Stiles reassured her. 

Camilla's smile was blinding and Derek had to stifle a growl again. He could only hope that this growling behaviour didn't become a habit. That would be very bad... and very embarrassing. 


	19. Chapter 19

After all the drama, Stiles hadn't even had time to call Olga or practice with her in the last few days. That's why he was glad that they were finally skyping, even if it was in the middle of the night. Above all, he needed answers. How was it possible that his magic had protected him and everyone else without him saying a spell out loud, and why the hell was he always so exhausted afterwards? 

"You never told me your magic was purple, Stiles", Olga gushed. 

"I didn't think it was important. Apart from that, I didn't even know that there were different colours for magic", he defended himself. 

He had never thought about the colour of his magic. And didn't Olga have to see the colour while they were practising together via skype? Well, they only trained small spells. Stiles knew by now that the bigger the spell was, the more intense the colour became.  
When he was able to prevent the house from burning down with his father and all the others inside the other night, the whole forest around him had been lit in purple light. 

"Besides, you must have seen the colour. We've been practising together for a few months now", he added, therefore. 

"Yes, if I will finally buy a better laptop, I can probably see the colour of your magic through Skype. But the image definition of this ancient computer is so bad, I'm not even sure I'd recognize you in real life if you'd walk past me on the street. Technical devices never were important to me. I never needed them before. I had my phone and that was enough. I never thought I had to teach magic via skype", she replied shrugging her shoulders. 

Sometimes Stiles forgot there were people who didn't care about technology. How did she even find information if she needed it? Yeah, of course, she could go to a library but sometimes it was important to get the information faster. How did she survive without Google, or what about Netflix or Youtube? 

"But back to your magic. The common magic is green, Stiles. Only particularly potent magicians can create purple magic. But we already established that you are very powerful." 

"No, I don't think I'm that powerful Olga!" Stiles replied with a crestfallen look on his face. 

"What makes you think that?" 

"Olga, I fainted every time. I don't even know how many times I passed out when I took out the wolfsbane splinters from Derek's body!" Stiles sighed.

"Hm" 

Thoughtfully Olga scratched her chin. 

"What exactly did you do when you fainted?" she wanted to know. 

"I've was focusing on luring the stupid wolfbane pieces to the surface. That's all", Stiles explained. 

That was really all he had thought about at that moment. He had imagined how the small splinters would migrate through Derek's body to the surface. For some mysterious reason, this had worked. 

"That doesn't make any sense. Of course, steering so many little bits out of a body is exhausting, but with a magician like you, it shouldn't lead to fainting. I need to investigate what could have been the cause. Maybe one of my colleagues knows something about it", she thought aloud. 

"Maybe I'm just not as powerful as you thought I was", Stiles replied. 

"No, I'm sure that's not it", she reassured him. " And I'm really proud of you. We didn't practice a protective spell or a drain spell once, and you managed it anyway. Stiles, I have to emphasize once again for how long most druids have to practice until they even get this far and you did it without any help, without any practice. You have to understand that this is by no means common. And don't worry. I'll figure out why you passed out. There has to be a simple explanation for this. " 

"Okay, thank you, Olga." 

"By the way, how did Derek and your father react?" Olga wanted to know.

"What do you mean? How they reacted to the attack? They were shocked, of course. We're all shocked", Stiles recounted. 

"No, I don't mean the attack. I'm talking about your scent. They must have smelled your real feelings for the first time", she replied. 

"I don't understand. You know I'm masking my scent, "Stiles replied in confusion. 

"WHAT? Stiles, do you even know what you're saying? You are telling me that you performed two spells at the same time?" Olga yelled. 

"Well. . . if you put it like that. I've been hiding my scent the whole time. I'm even hiding it at night while I'm sleeping. Otherwise, it would linger in my room and especially in my bedding for days and I don't want that", Stiles explained. 

It wasn't a big deal.  
He was used to masking his scent everywhere and at any time. Most of the time, he didn't even think about it any more. 

"What the hell? Stiles, the only records of a druid who was able to perform two spells at the same time, was from the Middle Ages! Goddamn it! No one has been able to ... since then. . . Jesus! I totally underestimated you. You're not just a powerful druid, you're the most powerful druid in a long time. And you're wondering why you were fainting. Oh, God, Stiles! You'll certainly be able to use two spells at once without to faint, but even you'll have to practice for that." 

She shook her head in disbelief. Stiles didn't know what to say. Could this be true? But in all objectivity, he really had caused two spells at the same time. 

"Okay, if you think that's a big deal. . ." Stiles said, still not convinced it could be true.

"Yes, Stiles, this is a big deal. But it's dangerous, too. Any pack would want you as their emissary. They would tie you to there pack by forcing you to mate one of their pack members. That's why your mother left Poland and renounced magic", Olga informed him.

"So, you mean the werewolf who first manages to sink his teeth into my throat becomes my mate?" Stiles asked with a shudder. 

"Something like that, yes. However, your power would be strongest if you found your true mate, "Olga explained. "Stiles listen, I did some research. I've been wanting to tell you this for a while. Your mother was a druid of the Voch dynasty. This is the most powerful Druid family in the world." 

Stiles swallowed. Olga knew something about his mother?

"What?" he said with a shaky voice.

"She was even more powerful than most druids in her family and that's why two packs were so desperate to have her. She chose one of the werewolves from one of the packs, but the other pack didn't want to acknowledge defeat. There was a fight and the man she wanted to mate died. She was so shocked and hurt that she decided to leave the whole supernatural world behind and start a new life here in America. Then she must have met your father and fell in love. The rest is history." 

Stiles had a hard time coming to terms with all this. His mother was a druid, like him? He would have given nearly everything for the chance to practice magic spells with her? It hurt to know that she would never see him use purple magic. She would never see his progress. She would never teach him. And he would never have a family member who would know what it felt like when magic flowed through his veins.

"You mean. . . you think my mother could have taught me all this?" he whispered tears already forming in his eyes.

"No, that was impossible", Olga insisted. „If anybody had noticed who she was, a werewolf would have wanted to claim her. Whether she was married or not. Human weddings don’t mean anything to werewolves. They would have killed your dad and maybe even you and tied her to their pack. That's also why she couldn't save herself when she got sick. She couldn't risk being discovered. She sacrificed herself for you and your father, Stiles. She must have loved you very much." 

Oh, God, Stiles wasn't able to breathe. His mother could still be alive. She could have. . . 

„Stiles, stop it! I know what you are thinking. But if there would have been another possibility she would never have left you. I'm sure your mother was grateful for every second with you and your father. But if she had used magic, other supernatural creatures would have noticed and she would have had to watch people she loved die again. Would you have let that happen? I think no one would," Olga interrupted his heavy thoughts. 

Stiles sighed. Of course, he wouldn't have let that happen. 

"Once you're mated, you should get to know your family in Poland. Your mother had three sisters. You have a lot of cousins, "the druid tried to cheer him up a bit. 

"Okay, and how am I supposed to find my mate?" Stiles wailed desperately.

His mate? How the fuck was he ever supposed to find his mate if he couldn't get over his stupid crush on his stepbrother? The thought of mating someone else was making him nauseous. This just wasn't fair. 


	20. Chapter 20

After the fire attack, a few things changed in the Hale-Stilinsky household. They all tried to include Stiles in everything now. Emotions were expressed out loud, not just smelled, pack matters were discussed with everyone (Talia insisted that Stiles was also present at pack meetings) and Stiles even ran with them at the full moon, which really surprised Derek. But it made sense. If his mother really wanted Stiles to feel like a part of the pack, they couldn't shut him out all the time. 

Derek wondered how his father must have felt. He couldn't remember if they had shared their feelings with him all the time. He was human and therefore he wasn't able to smell them either. 

Anyway, he never ran with them at a full moon. However, he was not a powerful Druid like Stiles. And he was Talia's mate, so he must have felt at least her feelings through their shared bond. 

Stiles spent most of the full moon night at the Nemeton, which had already grown really tall. Derek had no idea what Stiles was doing there, but it seemed like Stiles was somehow drawing energy from the tree. 

A few weeks passed without further events. No supernatural events, no attacks, no drama.   
Then, however, something happened that none of them had 'expected. 

The Dornpack returned.   
Jason and the Packalpha Jonathan together with two other werewolves, Gloria and Marco, arrived at a sunny Monday afternoon. Camilla wasn't with them. Jonathan probably thought it was too dangerous for the kid. Derek couldn't blame him. 

Talia was very pleased at first, but Derek smelled her annoyance after a few days. They all realized why the Dornes had returned very quickly.   
They wanted Stiles.   
Camilla and Jason must have told Jonathan that Stiles had saved them and that his magic was purple, and the Alpha had surely realised immediately that Stiles was a powerful magician.

Of course, he didn't want to miss the opportunity to win someone like Stiles for his pack. That's why he didn't come alone. He was probably hoping that Stiles would consider mating with one of the three werewolves.   
And even if Stiles should decide against the werewolves, an alliance with the Hales was suddenly interesting, because having a powerful druid like Stiles on their side was never a mistake. But it wasn't just the Dorns who realized how good it would be if Stiles were to mate someone out of their pack. Talia also repeatedly encouraged Derek to do something with his stepbrother. Not that Derek would mind spending time with Stiles, don't get him wrong. 

Ever since he got to know Stiles better, he loved spending time with him. As it turned out, they shared many similarities. He could spend nights discussing books they had both read or other things with Stiles.

It was easy to talk to Stiles. But more importantly, it was easy to be silent with him. Derek had never been great interacting with others. That's why he often panicked when a conversation came to a stop. He always felt that he had to say something, but he didn't know what. But with Stiles it was different. Stiles was able to talk nonstop and therefore there were no embarrassing moments. And if Stiles stopped talking it was a pleasant silence, a silence that didn't make Derek feel like he had to break it. 

Not for the first time, Derek wondered why he was so annoyed by Stiles back in High School. Now that he got to know Stiles better, Derek couldn't imagine anyone he'd rather spend his time with.

Before the Dorns returned, Derek spent an astonishing amount of time with Stiles. Sometimes Laura joined them, but Stile's girlfriend never came with them when they went to the lake or to the movies. Derek almost had the feeling that the two broke up. But that was nonsense, of course.

The wonderful two weeks where Derek and Stiles were almost always alone, were now unfortunately over. No matter what Stiles did, the Dorns always wanted to go with him.

It drove Derek's inner wolf crazy. He could smell that they wanted Stiles. It was stupid. Derek knew he had no right to be jealous, but he couldn't do anything about it. It got worse and worse. 

On the third day after their arrival, they all took a trip to the beach. Even his mother, the Sheriff and Stiles' girlfriend Heather joined them. And of course also the guests.

On the beach, Marco and Gloria didn’t leave Stile’s side for a second, while Jason wouldn’t let Heather out of his sight. It was more than frustrating.  
Derek had no idea what Stiles' girlfriend really felt because while her body language pointed out that she was interested in Jason, her scent didn’t reveal anything.   
Stiles, on the other hand, seemed a little annoyed by all the attention or perhaps also by the fact that he had no chance to talk with Derek for one second. Although this could of course only be wishful thinking.

At some point, Talia, the Sheriff and Jonathan went to a coffee bar nearby. Jason and Heather were heading towards the water. The rest of them stayed behind. Derek also wanted to go swimming, but he certainly wouldn't leave Stiles with the Dornes. 

So he stayed in his beach chair and listened to the conversations. He was just glad Laura stayed behind, too. 

“I’m surprised not all the werewolves in the area are going to court you, Stiles. Your scent is very pleasant”, Marco suddenly announced and Derek didn’t need to look at Stiles to know that he was blushing hard.

"Ahem". . . Stiles stammered embarrassment in his voice but not in his scent. 

"Don't tell us Derek here never tried to court you. We all know he's not exactly the most sociable werewolf, but even he can't be that stupid", Gloria laughed. 

Stiles cleared his throat and even if Stiles scent didn't reveal anything, Derek knew how uncomfortable this conversation had to be for his stepbrother. 

"I have a girlfriend. And even if I didn't have a girlfriend, I don't think Derek would be interested in someone like me", Stiles whispered and avoided to look at Derek. 

What? Stiles had no idea how wrong he was. Derek was very much interested. But like Stiles said, he had a girlfriend and Derek was no one who would wreck a relationship.

"Oh, come on, Stiles. Don't be so modest. You are a powerful magician and you are easy on the eyes, too. Even Derek can't be stupid enough not wanting to win you for the pack. Everyone wants a powerful emissary as a mate", Gloria explained.

Fuck! Derek saw exactly what they were up to. They wanted to make it look like Derek would only be interested in Stiles because he wanted his magic. 

And their shitty idea worked!   
Stiles looked at him with big eyes and Derek knew that he was overthinking the last two weeks they had gotten along so well. 

"Stop!" Laura interrupted the conversation with a stern voice. "What the fuck are you up to? Derek and Stiles are stepbrothers. No matter which mate Stiles will choose, he will always be a part of our family. And even if he belongs to another pack at some point, he will always be there for us and we will be there for him", she declared. 

Derek's Wolf didn't like the idea of Stiles with a mate and another pack at all. Not one bit!  
He desperately tried not to lose his temper. He was very close to wolf out. Shit! Normally he only had problems to control his shift on full moons. Of course, everyone smelled his struggle, except Stiles. Laura looked at him in astonishment and the Dorns laughed. 

"Does Derek's wolf know this too?" Gloria asked mockingly. 

Oh, God, how much Derek hated Marco and Gloria. But he didn't answer to their impertinent allusions. What was he supposed to say anyway? He could only try to calm his inner wolf and hope that the fucking werewolves hadn't destroyed everything that had been built between Stiles and him in the last few weeks.

"I think we should join Heather and Jason. Are you coming to Stiles?" Laura saved the situation. 

Derek would have loved to kiss her, but he was still too busy getting his shit together.

The rest of the afternoon was more or less eventless, but Derek was still on edge. More than once he felt Laura's concerned and curious gaze on him. At some point, she would ask him about it.

But for now, he couldn't do anything about the unpleasant feeling that grew inside of him every time one of the Dorns flirted with Stiles. The worst part, however, was the trip home. Derek had big troubles to keep his inner wolf at bay. It was so bad that Laura decided to drive the car.

The reason for his inner turmoil was the sitting arrangement. On the way to the beach Stiles, Heather and Laura drove with him. But on the way back, Jonathan somehow managed to separate Stiles and Heather, so Heather and Jason drove with them in the Camaro. Stiles was in the car with Gloria and Marco. Derek's inner wolf was running amok. Not only because Jason was shamelessly flirting with Stiles' girlfriend on the back seat, but also because Derek knew that Marco and Gloria would try the same thing at Stiles.


	21. Chapter 21

H: I am so sorry Stiles but we have to break up. I kissed Jason!

Stiles stared at the text on his phone. 

Fuck! That was bad news. Of course, he was happy for his girlfriend, but now he couldn’t use Heather as an excuse if intrusive werewolves didn’t want to accept a no. Yes, he was thinking about Gloria and Marko. Damn it. No wonder his mother left everything behind and didn’t want anything to do with magic anymore. (Okay his mother's story was a lot more tragic. After all, the man she wanted to mate was murdered. How fucked up was this?) 

But even if this wasn't as bad, he hated it. How could Stiles ever be sure that a wolf would choose him because they really loved him and not just because they wanted to tie his power to their pack? And what about all the talking about his true mate? Talia and Peter wouldn't shut up about this fairy tale. 

Stiles couldn’t imagine that he had a true mate, a person who was meant to be with him. This was ridiculous. Especially because he couldn't imagine anyone else but Derek and that. . . that was impossible. Stiles had looked it up on the internet. Werewolves actually recognized their true mates immediately. Even though they may not be fully aware of it. Especially if the first encounter takes place before both have developed the third component of their scent. But still, if Derek was his true mate, he would have noticed Stiles' scent and his heartbeat when they were both still in high school. 

But Derek never noticed him. Okay, maybe Derek noticed him when Stiles flooded the dressing room with his scent of arousal. The werewolf must have been happy when Stiles wasn’t around. 

Stiles shook his head and tried to concentrate on what was important now. Heather and Jason had kissed.

S: Okay, who broke up with who? Should we admit it's because of Jason? 

H: I think we just both realized that we are better off as friends. But of course, everyone will know very soon it's because of Jason. 

S: Yeah, no problem Heather. 

H: Thanks, Stiles. I know it would be easier for you if we just kept pretending to be together. But even if you won't believe me, I think it's for the best. 

S: It's ok. I have to thank _you_. After all, you were kind enough to play my fake girlfriend. 

H: You were a good boyfriend, Stiles. 

S: Haha, thanks! 

S: How do you want to go on with Jason? Won't he go back soon? 

H: Let's see what the future brings. Right now it's just nice. I don't want to worry about anything else right now. 

S: Okay, please take care of yourself, Heather. Although we just broke up, I care for you. 

H: Yeah, I know Stiles. I care for you too. And therefore I want to give you a little advice: You should tell Derek the truth.

S: Are you insane? Never! That would be more than embarrassing. 

H: I think you’d be surprised. Jason’s sure he’s in love with you. And frankly, I think so too. 

S: What the heck? Why would you think that? 

H: I have eyes in my head and Jason also has an extremely reliable olfactory organ... 

S: Heather, what do you mean? 

H: Think about it. You’re smart enough to figure it out on your own. I have to go downstairs. Dinner's ready. See you, Stiles. 

S: Hold on! 

She couldn’t just leave him high and dry like that. What did she mean by that? What did Jason smell? Damn it! Stiles needed to know more. 

S: You have to tell me what Jason smelled. 

S: Please! 

S: Heather, please don’t leave me hanging. Please! 

H: Jealousy. That’s all I’m saying.

Jealousy? Why the hell should Derek be jealous? Fuck! He needed to know more. 

At that moment, there was a knocking on the door. It was Laura who was telling him that dinner was ready. Stiles didn’t really want to have dinner with the Dorns, but there was nothing he could do about it. He knew this goddamn alliance was important to Talia. 

With a deep sigh, he jumped out of the bed and followed Laura downstairs into the dining room. All the others were already there and there were only two chairs left. One between Marko and Gloria and one next to Derek. Stiles chose the place next to Derek. He didn't want to encourage the two Dorn werewolves and Derek was finally his stepbrother. So it was perfectly normal and inconspicuous that he took the seat next to him. 

The atmosphere at the table was odd. All Hales seemed to be happy about his sitting choice. Even Derek smiled at him. 

DEREK SMILED AT HIM! What the fuck?

Stiles was surprised that Derek’s facial muscles even knew what they had to do to conjure a smile on his face. 

And Jesus! Derek’s smile was blinding! It should come with a warning!

The Dorns, on the other hand, seemed not so pleased with his choice. This was so fucking weird. Like it made any difference where he was sitting. Jesus! He wondered if at any point he had to express his disinterest more clearly. He hated such things! Couldn’t they just leave him alone? If Camilla hadn’t told her family about his purple magic, no one would be interested in him. 

He was still just a boy who talked far too much and who stumbled over his own feet way too often. He was just someone with pale skin and far too many moles. He was the epitome of the gangly neighbour's kid. 

Well, he might not have been so thin anymore because he started to work out. Nevertheless, measured by werewolf standards, he was certainly below average. So it was clear that the werewolves were only interested in his magic. Not that he could blame them. Still, it wasn’t exactly flattering. 

What was funny, however, were the astonished and shocked faces of the Dorns as Stile’s father and Peter commented on scents. They made it a habit to explain scented feelings because of Stiles. 

Stiles almost laughed out loud. Jonathan seemed so shocked. 

“I don’t think it’s very polite to talk about scents”, he said sounding upset. 

“Do you think it's more polite to exclude a family member from much of the non-verbal conversation. Stiles is human. He can’t smell our moods. We have therefore decided not to leave him in the dark. He’s too important to us for that”, Peter said calmly.

Jonathan took a sip of his beer. Stiles didn’t have to be a wolf to know he was angry. His father and Peter were certainly aware that Stiles could see what was going on even without an extraordinary sense of smell, so they didn't explain his condition.

“Of course, if it’s better for Stiles..." the wolf snapped and Stiles had a hard time to stifle a laugh.

“I am sure that the human members in your pack are treated as well as I am treated here,” Stiles resumed. 

“There are no humans in our pack”, Jonathan replied. 

“Your Emissary is a werewolf? How unusual”, Stiles asked in mock surprise. 

“No, of course Helga is not a werewolf. But she is an emissary. So she isn't human. Just like you," Jonatha explained and Stiles could tell that his patience was running thin.

"True, we are magicians. Nevertheless, we don't have werewolf senses," Stiles remarked.

"She never complained and she’s been living with us for forty years," Jonathan replied.

God, the Alpha was an arrogant asshole! Stiles would never want to live with the Dorn pack! He had no desire to live in a pack where no one cared about non-werewolves. 

“Ah, I understand”, Stiles just said. 

“But we could try to include this scent explaining into our everyday life, Dad”, Jason suggested.

“I’m not a big fan of these modern habits,” Jonathan explained. 

I beg you aren't, Stiles thought. But he didn't say anything because he didn't want to upset the pack leader even more. 

“Every Alpha has to decide for his pack. It was important to us that Stiles felt as comfortable as possible”, Talia stated. 

It was obvious that Jonathan was uncomfortable talking further about the matter. After all, he didn’t want to expel Stiles, but he couldn’t get along with talking about scents at dinner either. Stiles almost felt sorry for the wolf.

“I heard you and your girlfriend broke up”, the Alpha tried to change the subject. 

Derek’s head shot up. 

“Yes, we've realized that we are better off as friends. She also seems to have fallen in love with Jason”, Stiles confessed. 

It didn’t make any sense to beat about the bush. The Dorns already knew the story anyway. Stiles was sure Jason had told them the news immediately. He could only hope that Jason was serious about Heather and that he didn’t just want to get her out of the way so that Marko and Gloria could get to Stiles. 

“Jason took out your girlfriend? What the hell”, Derek roared. 

The werewolf had jumped up and he had difficulties not to shift. Angry, he snarled at Jason. His fangs were showing and his claws were out. Jesus! Derek was defending him. This shouldn't be so hot! 

“Hey, Derek. It’s okay. Please calm down”, Stiles tried to soothe the werewolf. 

Jason's eyes flash dangerously blue as well. 

“Okay, you should both calm down”, Peter said. 

Derek’s claws were gone and Stiles grabbed his hand and, miraculously, his stepbrother calmed down by the touch. Derek blinked. 

“Yeah, you are right uncle Peter. I’m sorry. I don't know what came over me”, Derek apologized. 

“It’s all right, boy. You were trying to protect your brother. We understand that”, Marko said shrugging his shoulders. 

Derek’s eyes immediately began to flash blue again. Stiles didn’t know if it had anything to do with Marko calling them brothers. But he knew he didn’t like it either. His feelings for Derek were far from brotherly.

Maybe it was because of what Heather had said, or maybe it was also because Derek was still holding his hand, but for the first time in his life, Stiles had the impression that Derek might feel the same way.


	22. Chapter 22

Derek had no idea why, but the second Stiles took his hand, his inner wolf immediately calmed down.   
Jonathan Dorn was an asshole and Derek hated that his mother wanted an alliance with his pack. It was clear that he was only here because he craved Stile’s magic for his pack. 

But Derek would do anything in his power to help Stiles finding his mate, even if it meant that he would lose him forever. His inner wolf didn't agree but Derek had to make sure that Stiles was with someone who loved him and not with someone who only wanted his power.

It was bad enough that the other werewolf pack succeeded in separating Stiles and his girlfriend. But Derek wouldn't let Marko or Gloria utilize Stiles. 

Except. . .   
Except Stiles wanted one of them to be his mate. Damn it! The thought alone drove Derek's inner wolf crazy. His blue glowing eyes showed how much he hated the thought.

“How about if you went upstairs with Derek, Stiles. I think he needs a little break from all the people here”, the Sheriff suggested and Derek could have kissed him. 

This was exactly what he needed now, a room without the Dorns and Stiles on his side.

“Why does Stiles have to do this? Can’t Laura go upstairs with him? After all, she’s his sister. Or let the boy go alone. He’s really old enough to calm down on his own. Didn’t you teach your betas to keep themselves under control, Talia? What the hell are you doing with him on a full moon?” Jonathan wanted to know. 

Derek heard his mother take a deep breath, but even before the situation could escalate or anyone could say anything, Stiles dragged him away from the table. 

“I think it’s an excellent idea for me to take Derek upstairs”, he said. 

"Wouldn't it be good if Marko or Gloria came along? I'm sure you could use some help, Stiles", Jonathan suggested with a fake smile. 

What the hell? The man was unbelievable. Werewolves were certainly a more intrusive species than humans, but this went too far. Marko and Gloria jumped right out of their chairs. Of course they wanted to obey their Alpha immediately. But they didn't get far. 

"STOP!" Stiles yelled and his eyes sparkled purple. " I am the emissary and so I am responsible for the health of my pack. I'm going upstairs with Derek now. ALONE!. Enjoy your dinner. " 

Derek could only watch Jonathan gaping like a fish with wide eyes. No one dared to contradict Stiles and so no one followed them when Stiles dragged him up the stairs into Derek's room. When Stiles closed the door behind them, Derek let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm so upset about the Dorn pack that I am not able to control myself. But my wolf wants to rip out their throats," Derek apologized and dropped onto the bed with a frustrated sigh. 

"It's all right. To tell you the truth, I'm not a fan of them either. Jason's okay, but the rest. . . " Stiles agreed and sat down on the bed next to Derek.

"Jason? But he's the worst. After all, he stole your girlfriend from," Derek objected angrily. 

His eyes immediately began to glow again. Shit! He really couldn't control himself. Shouldn't he be happy that Stiles was no longer with his girlfriend? But Derek knew that's not how he felt. Of course, he would have preferred that Stiles didn't have a girlfriend, but the most important thing was that Stiles was happy. Even if Derek's inner wolf didn't agree if it wanted Stiles for itself. Yeah, Derek wanted that too. Oh God, he wanted it so much. But he also wanted Stiles to have a good life, with someone he loved, with someone who loved him. 

“So about that," Stiles said and didn’t dare look at Derek. 

Nervously he chewed on his lower lip. He seemed to argue with himself as to whether he should say the next sentence or not. 

“I. . . Heather and I are just good friends. We’ve never been together. I’m sorry I lied to all of you”, he whispered and looked ashamed. 

What? Why would Stiles do that? That didn’t make any sense at all. 

“Why the heck would you do that?” Derek asked confused. 

“Oh, come on, Derek. Is it really so hard to understand?” Stiles wanted to know and almost looked at him desperately.

Derek had no clue what Stiles was talking about. 

"I have no idea what you mean, Stiles," Derek said. 

"Jesus, this is embarrassing," Stiles sighed and ran his hand across his face. 

"Okay, this seems to be one of those ripping off the Band-Aid situations. So I have to make it quick," Stiles stated and took a deep breath.

"I. . . I didn't want you to know that I. . . fuck, I was going to take this to my grave... I didn't want you to know I have a crush on you. " Stiles mumbled, playing with his fingers.

Derek recognized that Stiles' hands were shaking and his inner wolf urged him to take Stiles in his arms. To reassure him that everything was fine. That Derek wanted Stiles too. But Derek was so shocked by Stiles' confession that he just sat there staring at Stiles like an idiot.

"Fuck, Derek, don't look at me like that. You know I had a crush on you when you were in high school. Unfortunately, nothing has changed to this day. You've never made a secret out of the fact that you don't return my feelings. On the contrary, I know that I always annoyed the hell out of you. And that's why I wanted to spare you this, the embarrassment that the others would notice. Jesus, it's so fucking disturbing to live in a werewolf family where everyone can smell what you're feeling. Jesus, alone for this fact I am glad that I have my magic," Stiles kept babbling. 

Derek was frozen. Stiles wanted him? Not Heather or one of the Dorns? Stiles wanted Derek! 

"Stiles. . . " 

Damn it, why was it so hard for Derek to use his words?  
He wanted to tell Stiles that he felt the same way, that he might have found him annoying when they were both in high school, but only because he didn’t know why he could smell Stiles all the time and everywhere and why he was able to hear his heartbeat all the time and...

Oh, God! Fuck! He was so stupid?   
Stiles was his true mate! Of course he was. How could Derek not have known?  
And then it hit him like a punch to the guts. He almost fell to his knees when he realized how much he must have hurt his true mate with his dumb behaviour. 

All the angry looks he had thrown at the boy, Paige. . .   
Oh God, Stiles had seen how he and Paige. . .   
Fuck!  
Derek was the worst mate ever. His inner wolf was howling in pain and anger. 

“It’s okay, Derek. I know you don’t want me. And I promise I’m going to keep hiding my scent so the rest of the family won’t notice. I know you’re embarrassed. I overheard you talking to Boyd about it once and I ... hmpf”

Derek couldn't stand to hear Stiles talk like that one more second. As fast as he could, he rushed forwards and kissed him.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this chapter took me so long. I was stupid enough to start another Sterek fanfic. But here we go... Enjoy! ^^

It took Stiles a few moments to understand what was happening. Suddenly Derek had taken his face into both hands and kissed him. It had happened so fast, Stiles heart was racing like crazy. Derek’s lips were surprisingly soft, while his stubble scratched sharply across Stile’s cheeks. Stiles loved this mix. 

Once the initial shock had worn off, he eagerly opened his mouth to let Derek’s tongue slip inside and Derek didn’t hesitate to lick gently into Stiles's mouth. 

It was insane! He was kissing Derek!   
And fuck this felt so right. Stiles buried his hands in Derek’s t-shirt to draw him even closer. He wanted to feel the werewolf as close as possible. Even though he couldn’t smell Derek’s scent, he noticed that Derek’s heart was beating like crazy. Just like his own. The thought that Derek's heart was beating so fast because he was kissing Stiles was overwhelming. He could only pray that this wasn't just a dream.

At some point, while they were urging closer together, they must have fallen over, because suddenly they were no longer sitting but were tightly intertwined across Stile’s bed and Derek's gentle fingers slipped into Stiles' hair. 

Derek touched him like he was something precious like he mattered the world to him. It was amazing! The whole situation felt intimate and strangely right. Like this was how things should be, like Derek's arms were the place he belonged to.

Derek was an insanely good kisser. His body was pressed warm and solid against Stiles, who was barely able to breathe. Warmth surged through him like a big wave. Stiles wished this would never end, that Derek would never stop to kiss the daylights out of him. His whole body was tingling and a happy feeling settled inside of him. But sadly nothing lasts forever and suddenly the door was pushed open. 

“Sorry to interrupt, boys, but we have a problem and we need you downstairs right now,” Laura urged.

“Something happened with the Dornes?” Derek growled not letting go of Stiles. 

“No, Deucalion and his Alphas are in front of the house. They insist on implementing an old werewolf law, which states that a stronger pack can overtake the territory of a weaker pack at any time. They probably think we’re the weaker ones. And the fucking Dorns don’t want to interfere. Can you believe this? They don't want to help us," she explained sounding annoyed as hell. 

Derek let out a disparaging sound. 

“Fuck them!” he hissed. 

Stiles had no idea if he meant the Alpha pack or the Dorns but it didn’t matter. Stiles agreed to both. As fast as possible they run downstairs. Talia, Peter and Stile’s father were already in front of the house. The Dorn pack had retreated to the veranda. Stiles could only hope that Talia gave up the idea to ally with them.

As fast as possible, they hurried to Talia, Peter and the Sheriff. Deucalion's pack contained a total of five alphas and two emissaries. Fuck! The Alphas would tear their betas apart. Talia had a chance, but she was the only Alpha in their pack, so she'd have to give up in the end. Stiles knew he had to do something. He wouldn't let anything happen to his family. 

"Talia, you should give up and avoid bloodshed. You have four betas, one gangly human and not even an emissary. I know you have Deaton, but first of all, the man isn't here right now, and second, we both know he wouldn't stand a chance against my two powerful emissaries. Don't be a fool, just give me your territory", Deucalion goaded. 

“Never!” Talia yelled.

“Suit yourself! I was hoping I wouldn’t have to kill your whole family, but if you don’t want to be reasonable..." the Alpha sighed. 

Stiles knew he had to act quickly if he wanted to protect his family. He also knew he could only focus on one spell if he wanted to be stronger than Deucalion’s two emissaries. Resolutely he went forward and turned to his pack. 

“Just stay where you are. I’ve got this,” he said.

Then he turned around, focused on dispersing the spell of his scent mask and creating a shield to protect his pack. Purple sparks sprinkled around and he knew his eyes would shine in the same colour. 

Stiles recognized the determined look on the two emissaries faces and heard Deucalion direct his people to attack. But of course, they didn’t have a chance to get through Stiles protection shield.

Stiles noted that the Emissaries' attempts to break through his shield were not very powerful. Of course, their combined power would have been dangerous to a regular emissary, but they had no chance against Stiles' purple magic. Their green flashes dripped off his shield without any impact. After a short time, the emissaries seemed exhausted and their attacks became weaker. 

Stiles felt that maintaining the shield did not tire him at all. He was used to hiding his scent day and night. This was just a little more effort. He could do this for hours, for days if he had to. 

“I see I underestimated you. I didn’t know you had such a powerful emissary in your pack”, Deucalion snarled his eyes shining crimson.

“As you can see, we are by no means the weaker pack. So you can take your alphas and leave. NOW!" Talia declared in her Alpha voice her eyes were shining red as well.

Stiles wanted to make sure that Deucalion didn't even think about trying something like this again. 

“I will not only create a protection spell for our territory but I will also make it impossible for you to return to Beacon Hills ever again. You will never set foot in this area again”, Stiles stated. 

Then he forced Deucalion and his pack back to their cars with the power of his magic. As a result, they flew through the air like by a ghost’s hand and landed next to their cars. It looked like a grotesque scene from a cartoon. 

With their tails between their legs, they hurriedly got into their cars and drove away.   
Jesus!   
He had been able to protect the people he loved with his magic! Stiles Stilinski, the weak human protected the werewolves in his family! If that wasn't the coolest thing ever! He couldn't wait to tell Olga.

Stiles waited a few more moments, then he let the shield disappear. When he turned around, he saw that Derek was wolved out. Stile’s father and Talia had to hold him back. He looked like he wanted to attack Stiles.

“Stiles, your scent. You have to mask it again”, Laura emphasized.

Wow, so his scent was bad enough that even Laura wanted him to hide it. Ouch, that hurt! 

Peter seemed to notice what was going on inside his head. 

“Stiles, don’t look so bothered. It’s not that Derek doesn’t appreciate your scent. On the contrary, I can assure you. You smell too good for him. He can’t control himself. As I assumed, you’re true mates”, he explained. 

And that was. . . oh wow!   
Derek wasn’t repulsed, he was turned on!   
Fucking hell! The thought did weird things to Stiles. 

“Okay, now it would be really nice if you could mask your scent. And I beg you.... please hide Derek's scent as well. Jesus, that’s really hard to bear”, Laura complained, waving with one hand in front of her face to dispel the smell. 

“Mine!” Derek growled. 

And that was the moment when Stiles realized that it was indeed time to hide his scent if he didn’t want their mating to take place right here and now in front of everyone else.

“Fuck, sorry”, Derek said after Stiles masked their scents and he had calmed down. He really looked embarrassed. 

“Don’t worry, son. We were taking care of the situation”, the Sheriff reassured him calmly. 

Now that all threat was banished, the Dorns joined them. 

“You have demonstrated that you are strong enough for an alliance with our pack. So we’d like to..." Jonathan said. 

“We don’t need you anymore," Talia interrupted him. "And I would suggest you pack your things and leave our territory as soon as possible”

"But..."

“You abandoned us when it was necessary to show strength together. We don’t want an alliance with your pack anymore”, she said. 

Jonathan looked at her angrily. 

“If this is what you want. We’re certainly not going to force ourselves on you," the Alpha snapped.

Then he looked at Marko and nodded. Stiles knew immediately what he was up to when he saw Marko rushing towards him. Derek seemed to realize too because a loud growl escaped his throat and he also ran towards Stiles. But Derek would never have reached him in time. They both knew that Marko wanted to bite Stiles without his consent, forcing a bond. 

Even before Stiles knew what he was doing, his magic created a protection wall in front of him. Marko crushed against it with full force so that crashed to the ground with a loud Uff. 

Derek had wolved out again. Thankfully Stiles dad was fast enough to hold him back. 

“I’d really like to let go of Derek and let him rip out Marko's troat. You wanted to force a mating bond on my son. I should lock you up!” the Sheriff yelled.

“You have ten minutes to pack your things. Then I never want to see you again. I’ll deal with you just like I did with the Alpha Pack. You will never enter Beacon Hills again. I make an exception for Jason because he never wanted to hurt me and Heather likes him”, Stiles said in a cold tone of voice and then he turned around and walked back into the house without looking back. 

Derek followed him.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this took me so long but life was so busy the last couple of weeks. Damn, there was no time to write at all. But things will get better from now on. (Or at least I hope they will)  
> I hope you all still want to read this. ^^

Derek felt the adrenaline still rushing through his veins. On one hand, it was because of the attack of the Alpha Pack, but also, it was because of the impudence of the Dorn pack. How could they dare to try to force Stiles to bond with Marko?   
Derek was so upset he still wasn't able to shift back completely while he followed Stiles into the house. 

As soon as they were out of sight of the others, Stiles turned to him and took his hand. It was amazing what effect this little gesture had on Derek's wolf. Almost immediately it calmed down and Derek's claws and fangs retracted.

How was it possible that Derek hadn't realized sooner that Stiles was his mate?   
How could he be so stupid? 

The knowledge of how badly he had treated his mate all these years almost made him shift again. Goddamn it! Derek was such a bad mate.   
As an emissary, Stiles must feel the connection just as much as Derek did. He didn't want to think about how often Stiles must have felt rejected or ignored by him. 

Fuck! He had even made his mate hide his scent. Stiles was ashamed of his feelings because Derek always reacted annoyed when they both were still in High School. His wolf whined at the thought. Derek was certainly the worst mate destiny could have chosen for Stiles.  
He could only pray that Stiles would eventually forgive him. 

Right now Derek really wasn't sure if Marko was the bigger monster or if it was Derek himself. Both of them did unforgivable things. It would take a long time for Derek to forgive himself and for sure it would take Derek even more time to get over the fact that Marko tried to force Stiles to mate him. 

Jesus, that was a rape! 

It was even worse than rape since Stiles would have been tied to the other werewolf against his will all his life.

Derek felt anger rise inside of him again. Not so long ago, Marko would have been killed for his actions. And if Derek was honest, he was sad that this wasn't the case any more. He would love to rip out the other werewolf's throat with his teeth. The idea that Stiles might belong to someone else... against his will. . .

"Hey, "Stiles whispered and kissed him quick on the mouth. " It's okay, big guy. Luckily, nothing happened. I am safe. We are both safe."

Derek wasn't able to stifle the whining sound that escaped his throat. He knew he would probably only feel better when he was allowed to sink his teeth into Stiles' neck and when he was able to prove to Stiles over and over again how sorry he was. 

That was. . . that was if that was something Stiles wanted.   
Fuck!   
What if Stiles didn't want to be his mate?   
Mates were meant to be forever and Stiles was no werewolf. Yes, he was a spark, but even though he certainly felt the connection as much as Derek he didn't have to act on it. Maybe he didn't want to be werewolf married to Derek. Stiles was still very young. And Derek for sure didn't prove he was a worthy mate.

Derek felt panic grow inside of him. Not only because the thought that Stiles wouldn't want to mate him was unbearable, but also because Stiles would be in constant danger without a mate. There would be more werewolves out there who would want to force him to bond with them because of his power. 

"Come on, Derek. We should go back upstairs. I think we have a lot to talk about", Stiles urged as if he had read Derek's mind. 

Yes, they definitely had a lot to talk about. However, Derek didn't know if he was ready to learn the answers. 

Nevertheless, he let Stiles lead him up to his room.   
But even before they managed to close the door behind them so they finally could shut out the outside world, they heard Talia yelling. 

"Derek! Stiles! Please wait." 

Oh come on. Derek could only hope it didn't have anything to do with the Dorns again. His patience with the Alpha pack was more than drained. 

"Please, Derek. You should reconsider to mate tonight", she continued when she was in front of Stiles' room. 

What the hell? 

"And why should we reconsider?" Stiles wanted to know. 

His voice sounded surprised, a bit afraid and angry? 

This was a good sign. Was this a good sign? Fuck, Derek thought it was because maybe it meant that Stiles wanted to become Derek's mate after all.   
Oh God, please let him want to be my mate, Derek prayed silently.

Talia sighed. 

"Believe me, I would be more than happy if you and my son would mate eventually. Not only that you would hopefully finally feel part of our pack and that would make John very happy, but also, of course, because the connection would make you both even more powerful. Who wouldn't want that for his pack. . . ?" she said. 

"But. . . ?" Stiles wanted to know. 

"But Derek has to spend another year in New York. If you mate now, he won't be able to leave you in the fall. It takes years for mates to be able to separate for so long. And since you are tied to this land, you can't go with him to New York", she continued.

Derek couldn't believe that his mother could be so rational about this. What the heck was wrong with her? This was almost cruel. His fucking education didn't matter at the moment. The only important question right now was whether Stiles wanted him or not. 

"Mom". . . Derek whined. 

"I know that doesn't seem important to you right now, but it is. You've worked so hard for your education. And now you want to throw all this away? It's only one year, Derek. You could wait for another year. Then you'd be done and you wouldn't have to leave Beacon Hills. I know Stiles will wait for you," she tried to persuade them. 

The thought of leaving Stiles for a whole year caused Derek nausea. 

"No!" he all but yelled. 

"Derek listen. . . " Talia tried again. 

"No, mom, you listen. Stiles is my mate and I'm in love with him. Fuck, I've wasted enough time. I don't know if Stiles even wants me after all this time where I was too blind to realize... but . . . but if he wants to be my mate, I certainly won't leave him for a whole year. Especially when there are crazy people out there, who want to force a bond with him," Derek growled. 

He knew his eyes were shining. To hell with his education. 

"I want you big guy, believe me", Stiles whispered and squeezed Derek's hand soothingly. 

The relief that immediately rushed through Derek took his breath away. Stiles wanted him!   
Derek hadn't completely fucked up everything. There was hope. Jesus! There was hope. His heartbeat increased. He knew his mother was able to hear it but he didn't care.

God, it was good that Stiles still masked his scent. Derek knew he would have slammed the door in his mother's face if he would be able to smell him right now.   
Fuck! His mate wanted him.   
His wolf preened at the thought.

Overwhelmed, he looked at Stiles. The other man's eyes were shining and his warm smile made Derek feel tingly all over. 

"Derek, I'm sorry, but I can't allow that. I'm your Alpha and as much as I understand you, it would be unreasonable. Let's talk about this tomorrow in peace," his mother suggested.

„Mom, I don’t care for anything else but Stiles right now. I will find a way to finish my education. I can take online courses. Or I'll transfer. There's always a possibility. But I'm not leaving Stiles, you hear me? I AM NOT GOING TO LEAVE HIM!" Derek answered still looking at Stiles who shuddered at his words. 

"Derek Hale, I forbid you to rush into this mating with Stiles!" Talia said using her Alpha voice. 

Wow, his mother never used her Alpha voice. The strange thing was that his wolf wasn't impressed at all, though. He didn't feel the need to obey to his Alpha. Confused Derek looked at his mother. 

"I'm sorry Mom, but there's nothing you can do about it. I'm going to enter this room with Stiles now, and if he lets me, then we won't leave his bed until we're mated", Derek answered calmly. 

Completely surprised, Talia took a step backwards. 

"How. . . what". . . she stammered taken aback. 

"Do you really think you would have power over the mate of an emissary like Stiles, little sister? Stiles has voluntarily committed himself to the land, not to you, Talia. And, of course, Derek's wolf will always follow his mate. Derek is now also tied to the land and no longer to you. In the rare cases where a pack is lucky enough to have an emissary with purple magic, their mate is always independent, just like the emissary itself. You should know this. When they are bonded they will be more powerful than anything we know," Peter, who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, explained. 

"Is that supposed to mean that Derek is now the Alpha of this pack because he is more powerful?" Talia wanted to know in shock. 

"If he wants to, there is nothing you could do. . . " Peter replied cautiously.

"No, mom. Of course I don't want to be the Alpha of our pack. You're our Alpha. But you're wrong about Stiles and me. I'm not leaving him, and you're gonna have to live with that. Unless... unless you want us to start our own pack because I won't obey this time. I am sorry, but I can't," Derek said and looked at his mother anxiously. 

He didn't want a pack of his own. He wanted everything to stay as it was. But he wouldn't return to New York in the fall if Stiles accepted him as his mate.   
Talia looked at her son for a long time.   
Eventually, she sighed resignedly. 

"Okay, I guess I'll have to trust you on this one. Of course, I don't want to lose you or Stiles. We're a family. Even if not all of us are related", she said. 

Stiles had been unusually quiet during the conversation. Now he was pushing Derek inside of his room.

"If you'll excuse us now, please. Derek and I have. . . a lot to talk about.... " he said and followed Derek impatiently into his room. 

When they were finally able to close the door behind them, they both let out a relieved sigh.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your patience and all your sweet comments. Here we go....

After what felt like an eternity Talia was finally gone and Stiles locked the door not only with a key but also with his magic. Just in case there would be more interruptions. 

Then Derek lifted him up as if he would weigh nothing at all and carried him to the bed. And Jesus, if this wasn't hot as fuck.  
When he dropped Stiles on the bed, he withdrew a bit. 

"You're sure you want this, aren’t you?" Derek wanted to give him another out. 

Nervously the werewolf chewed on his lower lip.

„Fucking hell, Derek. Of course I am sure. We are mates. I was waiting long enough. I want this, Derek! I want you. I am sure,” Stiles assured him. 

With a deep growl and bright red eyes, Derek surged forward to kiss him.

"I want you so much, Stiles. Oh God, you have no idea," Derek murmured against his lips while he climbed into Stiles' lap. 

"I think I do have an idea, believe me," Stiles replied.

“Could you… could you wait a bit before you unmask your scent? I’m… I’m not sure if I can control myself when I smell you… Fuck Stiles, I am not even sure I can control myself without smelling you…” Derek whined and slotted their lips together again.

Fuck, Stiles was already so hard and this was just a kiss.   
  
"We’re wearing way too many clothes. Why the fuck are we still wearing clothes?" Derek rasped.  
  
Impatiently Stiles helped Derek to slip out of his Henley and his pants. He cursed himself for not knowing a spell to undress the man in front of him faster. But somehow they finally managed to get Derek naked.  
  
Jesus, the werewolf looked like a Greek God with all his muscles and abs. It was surreal.   
Stiles swallowed heavily as he let his gaze wander over Derek’s perfect body. 

Fuck! He wanted the other man so much, he didn't even know where to start touching him. With trembling fingers, he caressed Derek’s hairy chest. The werewolf shuddered underneath his touch. 

When they were both finally naked, Stiles just couldn't hold back any longer. 

Goddammit! This felt so right.   
It took Stiles’ breath away how hungry Derek stared at him.   
They were both fully hard now. He was about to explode and they hadn't even started yet!

Derek’s face was flushed, his eyelids heavy, and his breaths came unevenly and the knot on his beautiful cock was already forming.   
Jesus Christ, Stiles wasn’t sure he would survive this. His heart was beating like crazy. 

"I want you so much, Derek!" Stiles confessed not even feeling the slightest bit ashamed.

This was so much better than in all of Stiles’ dreams.   
Derek was panting loud and heavy now, his mouth was attacking Stiles’ neck.  
  
“Fuck, Stiles. You’re killing me!”  
  
Yes, this was exactly what Stiles wanted. He wanted to wreck Derek, to make him fall apart. He wanted to ruin him for anybody else. Because Derek was his. Finally, Derek was his!  
  
***  
  
Derek couldn’t get enough of the sight in front of him.   
Stiles was sprawled out on the bed, his beautiful pale skin was covered with moles, his face was flushed and his lips were already kiss swollen and his cut cock was laying heavy against his flat stomach already leaking precum.   
Stiles was perfect. 

With a loud moan, Derek pulled him closer. Stiles gasped and started to roll his hips, dragging their cocks together with the most perfect friction. 

Holy Fuck! Derek knew he wouldn’t last long if they went on like this.  
Before he was even aware of it, he flipped them both over, pinning Stiles to the mattress with a deep growl, kissing down his neck to his chest, carefully biting his nipples.

“Jesus Christ, please! Derek, I…,” Stiles cried and arched his back, displaying himself.

Derek felt his blood rushing through his body at the mere sight of his true mate who was looking up at him with lust blown pupils.   
  
“Derek, please! I need you…“  
  
Derek exhaled slowly, just staring the other man.   
  
He wanted to ravish his mate right now but he didn’t want to hurt him. Derek knew his knot was big. He needed to stretch Stiles. He could only hope that Stiles had lube in his nightstand. 

As if he knew what Derek was thinking, Stiles took out a little blue bottle from the drawer.   
Thank God, spit would be a shitty lube for a knot.   
Carefully Derek lubed his fingers and started to prepare Stiles. At first, he entered him with a single finger, moving slowly and cautiously because he didn’t want to hurt the other man. Derek’s finger slipped in and out easily and after a short while he added another one.   
  
“More, please … I need… Derek, I need more!” Stiles begged and Derek added a third finger.  
  
To stretch him even more for his knot, he pushed a fourth finger inside after a while.   
Stiles moaned, eyes wide, breath hitching in his chest. Derek never thought that it could be like this. He was so turned on and at the same time, it felt like coming home. 

No one ever had made him feel like this. Like he was about to lose control. And Derek was more than sure that he would lose control when he finally would smell Stiles. The memory of sex with anybody else was downright ridiculous in comparison. How could he have been so blind for so long? How could he not have seen that his mate was always there, right in front of him?   
Shame and guilt rushed through him once again.

"Please..." Stiles begged.  
  
“I got you, Stiles. Just a few moments more. Baby. I don’t want to hurt you,” Derek explained. 

“Derek! Ahhh, please …, I…please!” Stiles cried when Derek found his prostate, thrusting against the sensitive spot over and over again.  
“I beg you. Please…”

“Oh, sweet mercy. Stiles, you will be the death of me!” Derek cried.   
  
“More, please Derek… I need more!” Stiles begged.   
  
When Derek’s four fingers finally slipped in and out without hindrance he withdrew them. Quickly he spread a huge amount of lube on his cock and slowly pushed in, not stopping until he was fully seated inside of Stiles.  
  
Derek had to stop and take a deep breath. He didn’t want this to be over too soon.   
  
Oh God, he had to smell him. He had to smell his mate now.

“Move! I beg you, Derek… move!” Stiles pleaded and Derek started to thrust into him slowly.

“Let me smell you, please,” Derek begged and only one second later he was nearly drowning in the heady scent of his mate.

With a whimper, he placed his nose directly on Stiles' throat and inhaled.

Jesus, Stiles scent was heavenly. This would be over very quickly. But they would have more than enough possibilities to do this again and again. Because Stiles was his mate. They would be bound together forever after this night.

A deep moan escaped Stiles' throat and he tilted his head back, baring his neck.  
Derek was nearly drunk on Stiles’ scent. His fangs were extracted and his wolf demanded to bite, to mate.  
  
“Knot me, please!” Stiles demanded. 

“Fuck,” Derek whined, helplessly fully wolved out now.

“I’m yours… always was…Derek, I…,” Stiles cried meeting each of his thrusts with his hips.  
  
It was almost impossible for Derek to hold back any longer. The smell of his mate was heavy in the air and he wanted to drown in it. He wanted to bury his nose in Stiles’ neck and take deep breaths forever. Derek wasn't sure how he had made it this far without going crazy, but he was certain that he had reached a point where he simply couldn't wait any longer.  
He needed to claim Stiles now. He needed him so bad, it almost hurt.   
  
“Fuck. Stiles I…”

He knew he was on the verge of losing control. His wolf was about to take over.

”Don’t hold back Derek please…mate me,” Stiles begged. 

And this was it.   
Gasping for air, he grabbed a handful of Stiles’ hair and pulled him closer. 

“Yes, please…” Stiles sobbed, squeezing Derek’s ass tightly to encourage his thrusts even more.

It was more than obvious that he was close too.  
When Stiles’ back arched through his orgasm only a few moments later, Derek pinned him down and bit the sensitive spot on his neck while he worked his knot into the other man with a few forceful thrusts. 

His orgasm rushed through him with a wild force. Derek had never experienced anything like this. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that the air in the room was full of magical energy, everything was glowing purple and his neck hurt like Stiles would bite him too, but he couldn’t care less. He was flooded with euphoria and bliss while the bond between them settled. 

It took an eternity for one of them to be able to speak again. Of course it was Stiles who was the first to say something.

“Holy shit. Paige was right, sex with you is insane,” he stated.

“Wha...? Idiot!” Derek chuckled. “You can’t compare this to my relationship with Paige.”

“Is that so. And why not?” Stiles wanted to know.

“Because.. because sex with Paige was nice, she was nice but she wasn’t you. You are my mate and I love you more than anything. And I don’t have the right words for how amazing sex with you was,” Derek explained with a serious tone of voice.

Stiles pecked him on his cheek. 

“I love you too, Derek Hale. Always have and always will,” he replied and cuddled closer.

Derek hummed. He was lying half on top of the other man, his nose buried in Stiles’ neck, smelling and licking at the new mating bite. Stiles' fingers were drawing circles on Derek’s back. Stiles smelled so happy and Derek knew he was smelling happy and sated too. 

“You are mine now. And I am yours. Forever,” Derek murmured satisfied. 

He was exhausted and tired and it was so comforting to just lay there in his mate’s arms.   
And so he fell asleep while they were still locked together.  



	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is it. The last chapter. Thank you for sticking with me through this long ride. It was a pleasure... ^^

When Derek woke up the next morning he felt better than he had ever felt in his entire life before.   
He was bursting with energy and it was as if he was complete for the very first time in his life as if something was always missing before like he lost a limb or something and now he had it back. And somehow it was true. His mate was missing. And now his wolf was more than satisfied to have him in his arms. 

Stiles breath was calm, his features completely relaxed.   
Derek kissed the top of his head. He couldn't believe they were finally together. Derek's wolf preened at the thought of his mate wanting him back. Stiles snuggled even closer to Derek in his sleep and Derek could see the mating bite on Stiles' neck. It was still angry red and swollen even though it had healed quite well. 

Still, Derek couldn’t help but be proud. Every werewolf and every human would know that Stiles belonged to him. The only thing Derek regretted was that Stiles couldn’t bite him back. With Derek's otherwise useful self-healing skills, every wound would heal immediately. Only the bite of another werewolf would be permanent. But even if Stiles wasn't human, he was no werewolf. 

Still, for some reason, there was a spot on his neck that hurt as much as Stiles had bitten him. Strange. 

Stiles got a little more restless in Derek’s arms and Derek knew that his mate was about to wake up. Lovingly Derek kissed one of his shoulder blades. 

“Good morning”, he whispered, and Stiles sighed content. 

“I hope I can always wake up like this”, Stiles murmured sleepily and yawned. "But as much as I hate to leave this heavenly warm bed with you in it, I’m afraid I have to head to the bathroom." 

Derek giggled and let Stiles go. He GIGGLED! Like a schoolgirl. Jesus! 

“I’ll be right back. . . ” Stiles said as he turned around and looked at Derek. ”Holy Shit!” he then yelled and stared at Derek with wide eyes. 

“What? What’s the matter?” Derek wanted to know. 

Stile’s shocked facial expression frightened him. 

“Fuck, Derek, your neck. I. . . " Stiles stuttered. 

Instinctively, Derek touched the sore spot on his neck. Damn it, Derek wanted to know what the hell was going on. Curious and a bit anxious he got up and went to the bathroom to look in the mirror and Holy Mother of God... what he saw was unbelievable.

The entire left side of his neck and a large part of his left shoulder was covered with a tattoo. It was a beautiful, detailed portrait of a tree. 

Jesus Christ. Stiles had marked him as well. Not with his teeth but with his magic. Yeah, Stiles' magic had to be responsible for the amazing tattoo. That was the only reasonable explanation. While Derek looked at the tree in the mirror, Stiles stepped behind him. 

“Wow, I’m afraid I ...my magic went a bit overboard.... I hope you're not mad that I marked you like this. I could ask Olga if there is a way to get rid of...," Stiles babbled visibly nervous. 

Abruptly Derek turned around. 

“Don't you dare! I love the tattoo and I love the fact that you marked me too. It’s perfect! I want everyone to see that I belong to you”, Derek interrupted his mate passionately.

Derek knew Stiles had to feel his possessiveness through the bond but apparently, it didn't disguise his mate because Derek felt how happy Stiles was right now. 

“I think we both should brush our teeth to get rid of our morning breath and I should do what I wanted to do in bathroom in the first place and then we really really should consider hot morning sex?” Stiles suggested and kissed Derek’s tattoo. 

Derek didn’t know exactly whether it was because of his own feelings or whether he felt Stiles through the bond, but the wave of arousal that ran through his veins made him shudder. 

Derek knew that his mate would feel all the love and affection and also how turned on he was right now through the bond. It was reassuring to know that there would never be misunderstandings in this regard from now on. Derek had never been good with words but his mate would always know how he felt and vice versa. 

Stiles sucked at his neck and his hands started to explore Derek's naked torso. 

Oh fuck! Derek was already hard.

He quickly grabbed his toothbrush...

***

Sex with Derek was insane. That’s what Stiles said last night. Now, however, with the bond, it was mindblowing.   
To think that the other part was aroused was one thing, to see it clearly in their reactions was another thing, but to feel it as if it were his own feelings was a completely different thing. 

The orgasm that crashed through Stiles when Derek blew him after they got back from the bathroom was beyond everything Stiles had ever experienced and beyond everything he had ever imagined. 

Jesus Christ! Stiles was certain that he had lost consciousness for a few moments. And it took him like forever to get his breath back under control.   
Derek was kneeling beside him after he swallowed every last drop of Stiles' release, his eyes were shining deep red, his fangs were showing, while he jerked himself to a climax with loud moans and a heavy breath. The sight alone was breathtaking but to feel Derek's arousal and his deep love for his mate was what made Stiles nearly come again. Derek’s orgasm crashed through them both like a second Hurricane. 

It was a good thing that the rooms were soundproof. 

After a shared shower, they both went downstairs to the kitchen. For Stiles, it was the first time in eternity that he didn't have to mask his scent while meeting other members of his family. 

Laura and Peter were already in the kitchen drinking their coffee, empty plates in front of them.

“Good morning”, Peter welcomed them. 

“Good morning to you too”, Stiles replied and headed to the stove. 

Someone had made scrambled eggs with bacon for which Stiles was very grateful. All the sex had made him hungry. 

“Your two smell so happily mated, it’s almost disgusting”, Laura said but she smiled at them.

Stiles had no doubt that she was happy for her brother.   
Derek didn’t respond to her statement. He took two cups from the cupboard and made coffee for himself and Stiles, while Stiles filled two plates with the scrambled eggs. 

When they sat down at the table, Laura’s looked at Stiles mating bite. Then her gaze fell on Derek's mark and her eyes widened. 

“Jesus, what's that?” she shrieked. 

Derek blushed and it was so cute, Stiles wanted to kiss him. 

“Stiles magically marked me too”, Derek explained with a hint of pride in his voice. 

Stiles' heart swelled in affection. 

"Wow, I'm impressed, Stiles. That's a hell of a mark," Laura stated.

“Hm, one question, Derek. Which colour do your eyes get when you shift? Blue or red?” Peter wanted to know out of the blue. 

“What? Why should my eyes turn red? I’m a Beta, not an Alpha”, Derek answered irritated. 

Stiles looked at him astonished.

“Derek? Your eyes are not blue”, Stiles clarified. 

“What do you mean?” Derek wanted to know, a frown was forming on his forehead. 

“Your eyes glow red. Believe me, I am very sure they aren't blue. I saw them last night and also this morning”, Stiles said and coated the still lukewarm toast with butter. 

“Ew. . . too much information, Stiles. I don’t want to think about what you two do when you’re alone”, Laura complained. 

“Interesting. Could you show me, Derek?” Peter asked. 

Derek looked completely surprised. 

“Why should my eyes”. . . he mumbled. 

“Just do it, nephew. I had a conversation with Olga this morning. She said that druids with purple magic always mated with Alphas. So you must be an Alpha. That you don’t want to be our pack alpha doesn’t change the fact. So it looks like we now have two Alphas in our pack”, Peter explained. 

“Wow! Show us little brother”, Laura animated him. 

Derek let his wolf loose a little and as expected his eyes glowed crimson red.

“Derek, that's really incredible”, Laura yelled, staring at her brother with awe. 

Peter smiled satisfied. 

“Very good. Now, thanks to Stiles, we are not only one of the strongest packs in the country, if not in the world, but we also have two Alphas”, he stated. ”By the way, I was in the woods today. Olga said the Nemeton must have grown through the bond just like Stile’s magic. And truly, the tree has become huge."

“Oh, really”, Stiles said happily. "Can we go visit it after breakfast, Derek?" 

Derek nodded still completely surprised that his eyes were red.   
At some point, Stiles would tell him that they already shone red even before their mating. But for now, it would be better to let Derek process the fact that he was an Alpha.   
He grabbed Derek’s hand and pressed a kiss to his knuckles. 

“I really don’t care what colour your eyes are, Derek. I love you no matter what”, Stiles whispered.

Laura made a choking sound. 

“Oh God, you two are so sickening. I’m glad I’m going back to Chicago in two days. So much love is hard to bear”, she said, but her voice sounded fond. 

Yes, they all had to live with his sappiness now. Stiles had been hiding his feelings long enough. For nothing in the world, he wanted to hide his feelings for Derek ever again, no matter what the others thought of it.


End file.
